Submitting to Trust
by Charlie O'Kelley
Summary: Kate gets some bad news but Rick is there to help her back on her feet. He learns a lot more about her past and she learns that she can trust him with it, even the parts that she has tried to forget.  Additional M Rated conclusion will be posted soon.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Welcome to my new story! I hope you enjoy this. It's probably a bit out of character for Castle and Beckett but I hope that I am not too far out there. I do know that in times of great pain, people can do things that they never normally would. Some of these chapeters are really short and others are pretty long. I will try to post at least one part per day.

Summary: Kate gets some bad news but Rick is there to help her back on her feet. He learns a lot more about her past and she learns that she can trust him with it, even the parts that she tried to forget. Rated T for some mild nudity, a somewhat graphic case, and some non-sexual domination/submission issues.

Spoilers: Everything up till Knock Down.

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The accident

The three detectives and one writer walked back into the precinct in triumph after having just caught a particularly elusive killer. They all went into different directions, with Castle going to the break room and the rest to their desks in the bullpen. Castle went to get a cup of coffee and to make sure that the table was cleared off to put the pizza that he ordered on the way back to the precinct. He looked up and saw Beckett at her desk on the phone. He saw the two detectives smile did the little 'feed the birds' gesture, before he picked up the two cups of the frou frou coffee that she secretly loved. Castle had walked out into the hall when suddenly; Beckett ran by nearly knocked him down, spilling the coffee everywhere. She didn't even stop but kept on running skipping the elevator for the stairs.

"What just happened?" asked a stunned Castle as he stooped to start cleaning up the spill.

"I don't know," said Ryan. "She let us know that the message was from the DA and he was suggesting no bail, then all of a sudden, she went white as a sheet, grabbed her purse and ran."

"Captain, do you know what's up with Beckett?" Esposito asked as their captain came out of his office to see what was going on.

"No, I figured that she just wanted to get home."

"She about barreled over Castle, didn't even realize she spilled coffee all over him," Ryan explained.

"Shhh," Castle requested. He was standing at her desk holding her phone. Beckett wasn't going to like the fact that he has observed her enough to know her voice mail password. He also went pale before he relayed the message.

"He father was in an accident. He's at St. Vincent's but it doesn't look good."

"Esposito, call Lanie, let her know. Ryan, finish up the paperwork. Castle, go be with her," Montgomery barked out orders. Castle looked down at his ruined shirt but didn't want to take the time to go home to change. Esposito caught his look as he dialed Lanie, reached into his desk drawer and tossed Castle a NYPD t-shirt from his gym bag.

"Thank you."

"Castle, Peters downstairs will drive you."

"I have my car."

"He has lights and a siren," Montgomery stated.

"Yes, sir." He raced to the elevator, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. The doors closed as he was pulling the shirt off and balling it up before wiping his chest down to get as much of the coffee off as possible. He was just pulling on the t-shirt when the doors reopened and Peters waved him over.

They made it to the hospital in record time and Peters even promised Castle that someone would bring his car to the hospital for him to be able to drive home. Castle didn't really know where to start looking but he was able to find someone to direct him to the Emergency Room Waiting Area. He saw her there pacing but she didn't even seem to see him. She finally reacted when he forced a cup of coffee into her hands. She looked up at him and the hurt look on her face made him want to just pull her into his arms. She broke eye contact before he could and continued pacing. Kate held on to the coffee but she had taken a sip of it by the time that Esposito and Lanie arrived. Lanie gave Beckett a hug but she didn't seem to notice.

"She been like this the whole time?" asked Esposito, Castle nodded sadly.

"She hasn't said a word. I don't think she even knew I was here until I gave her the coffee."

Thirty minutes later

"Ms. Beckett?" a doctor called out as he walked into the waiting area. Finally, there was a response from her.

"Yes," her voice not at all like the strong and confident detective that Castle was used to.

"I am Dr. Peters. Your father is on the way up to surgery. He has extensive injuries and we don't know yet if he will pull through. We are doing everything we can and we'll let you know when we can. There is a private waiting area up on the surgery floor. If you follow the nurse, she will lead you there."

"Thank you," she said as the ER doctor left to see other patients.

The four followed the nurse to the other waiting room where Esposito sent a text to Ryan updating him on the news. Soon, Ryan and Montgomery were there also.

Two hours later

"Beckett, Esposito, Lanie, and I need to leave," Ryan lightly touched her on the shoulder, causing her to start. "We have that court case in the morning and I still have some paperwork to do. If you need anything, please call me. Anytime," Ryan insisted.

"Thanks," she barely acknowledged each of her friends and almost winced as Lanie gave her a quick hug.

Beckett sat between Montgomery and Castle but was still jittery and anxious. Finally around midnight, about 6 hours since Jim Beckett went into surgery, a nurse came out. Beckett nearly tripped over her feet to get to her to find out what the news was. Castle was close behind her.

"Ms. Beckett, your father is still in surgery. They have finished on the head injuries and are now working on some broken bones and other injuries. There have been a few times that his pressure dropped but they have been able to stabilize it for the time being. I don't know how much longer it will be but please know he is in the best hands in New York."

"Thank you," Kate said softly. She turned back to her seat only to find Castle in the way. She looked him in the eye and before he could back off, she simply stepped around him without touching him.

"Beckett," said Montgomery with a gentle hand on her shoulder, also causing a wince. "I am going to have to leave."

"Okay. You too," she said looking at Castle.

"No," he said in a tone that he rarely used with her. The last time she heard it was after her place was blown up and he insisted that she stay over at his loft. "I am staying with you until you leave. End of discussion."

She just nodded then walked away from him to sit in another chair.

"Take care of her, Castle. I haven't heard but a few words out of her since I got here. You might want to ask a doctor to take a look at her if she doesn't start talking or let anyone help her. Don't let her bottle this up. Especially, if…" He left it unsaid how lost she would be if her father didn't make it.

"I'll take care of her, sir. I'll call when there is any change." They nodded at each other and with one final sad glance at his detective, Montgomery left.

Castle wished that he could do something, anything. He knew that she was worried that she was about to become an orphan. She didn't talk about her dad too much but she wore his watch every day and he knew that he was important to her. Castle knew that her dad took too much solace in the bottle after his wife was murdered and that hurt the father-daughter relationship. They had only started to get that back after he joined AA and it's been a long haul so far for them. He looked at his inspiration and thought that she looked nearly defeated and it made him sad. Suddenly he noticed her watch was missing.

"Beckett, Kate. Where's your watch?" he couldn't help but ask but she didn't answer.

"Kate," he said almost harshly but finally getting her attention. "Where is your watch?"

"Home."

"Why?" he asked hoping to get her to start talking. "Kate, why?"

"I didn't wear it today," she said as he reached out to try to take her hand. She pulled away.

"Why, Kate?"

"We had an argument."

Unable to resist, he put his arm around her, she tensed a bit but finally let him comfort her for the first time that night. He was surprised that she actually had answered him when he took that harsh tone with her. He thought that she was going to be mad and start yelling or even throw a punch. He figured that a punch from her was worth it to get some sort of reaction out of her. She was being far too quiet and that worried him.

Three AM

"Miss Beckett," said the doctor softly.

"Yes," her voice nearly broke as she saw the grim look on the doctor's face. Castle wrapped one arm around her waist when he saw how unsteady she was on her feet.

"I'm Dr. Weatherwax. Your father is alive but in critical condition. He may still not make it through the night."

"Can I see him?" she asked.

"Not right now. We are moving him to ICU and should have him settled with in the hour. He is in a medically induced coma so he won't be awake."

"Okay. I just need to see him. I won't get in the way. I just need to see him," she insisted. "Please?"

"I'll come and get you two when I can," he said, not sure why he was bending the rules for her but sensing that it needed to be done.

They were led to the ICU after about an hour. The nurse was trying to make small talk as they walked and commented on the fact that usually they were very strict about visitors in the ICU. She mentioned that the doctor specifically gave Kate permission to go in but just for a minute or two. Kate walked silently to her father's bed and at first just stared at him. He was covered in bandages and bruises and with tubes leading everywhere. She was afraid to touch him but she knew that she needed to.

"You can touch him, Ms. Beckett. Just be careful," the doctor explained. Castle stood close to the door, he wanted to be close to her but he knew that she needed her space right now. He also wanted to be there for her if she asked for help but he knew that she probably wouldn't, as she was far too stubborn.

She just stood there a bit before she gently took his hand into hers. She hated to see him like this, all broken and battered. But she didn't cry, she knew that he would want her to be strong.

"Ms. Beckett," Dr. Weatherwax said softly.

"I'm so sorry, Dad. I really am. I don't want to loose you too. I need to leave now but I'll be out in the waiting room. I love you, Dad."

They went back out into the waiting room and Kate once again sat away from Castle but he kept close watch over her. Around noon, a new doctor came to give an update.

"Ms. Beckett?" he asked. "I'm Dr. Regan. Your father is hanging in there and to be honest, I am a bit surprised. We weren't even going to talk about when to bring him out of the coma but since he is doing better than expected, we might be tapering off the drugs as early as Thursday."

Kate's knees nearly wobbled in relief, once again bringing Castle to her side.

"You and your husband really should go home. There is nothing productive you can do here. Besides, if you don't get some sleep and some meals, I'll have some new patients."

"I don't want to leave," she was adamant.

"I know, trust me, I know," the doctor said with sympathy. "I doubt that your father would want you to hurt yourself over him though so please go get some food and a couple of hours of sleep at least. I will call with any changes, good or bad. If I don't have to call you before 9 tonight, give me a call and I'll update you before the end of my shift. I'll be back tomorrow morning at 9am and I will let you in to see him again then. Okay?"

"No, I don't want to leave," she insisted again.

"Ms. Beckett, please, let your husband take you home and give you a good meal and take a nap. That is honestly the best thing you can do for your father right now."

Castle knew that she was out of sorts because she usually always bristled whenever anyone linked the two of them together romantically. This time though, she just didn't seem to care.

"Fine," she said sad to have lost that battle. "Can I see him again? I want to tell him that I need to leave."

"Of course, just for a minute."

"I'll call for a car," Castle told Beckett before she walked over to her father's bed and softly spoke to him.

"There seems to be a problem with your father-in-law's insurance," Dr. Regan mentioned to Castle.

"Actually, he isn't my father-in-law. Kate is my partner of sorts. What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, if you aren't married, I legally can't tell you due to privacy regulations," the doctor said.

"That's fine. I understand. Let me give you my address. Hypothetically, if there are any issues with the bills not being paid, send them to me and I'll take care of it. I'd appreciate it if you don't mention it to her though, not yet. She doesn't need the stress right now. I'll tell her later."

"Very good. I'm sure that will be a load off the Becketts' minds. See if you can get her to eat and get some rest."

"I will. I'm going to bring her back to my place, my number is on the card if you need anything. Call my number, not hers. I'm going to try to turn off her phone."

"Very well. Ms. Beckett, it's time to go," the doctor said as he walked into the room.

"Bye, Dad. I'll be back tomorrow morning. I love you."

"Ms. Beckett. I have your number, I'll contact you if there are any changes."

They walked down to the parking lot and Beckett reached in her purse for her keys. Castle took them from her hand.

"I need my keys to drive home, Castle."

"I have a car coming, Beckett. You won't be driving, you are exhausted. We'll stop to get something to eat or order in and head over to my place."

"No, I want to go to my place, and I can drive myself."

"No," Castle said with his rarely heard serious voice. "It is not safe for you to drive and my place is closer. I gave the doctor my cell number also so he will call one of us if anything happens."

"And if something happens, just how am I supposed to get back?"

Castle didn't respond, he just pulled out his phone and dialed.

"Esposito. Beckett and I are leaving the hospital. Her dad is stable but critical and the doctor is sending her home. My place is closer so we will be going there. My car service just arrived to drive us but we need our cars at my place. Can you and Ryan take them over?" He paused as they got into the car. "That sounds great, we'll see you soon."

"They are going to get the cars and some lunch for us also."

Beckett nodded but didn't respond. He was once again rather surprised at how she wasn't fighting back when he was pushing her to do certain things.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: This part is a bit on the short side and the next part is super short so I will be posting two parts today. I'll post the second part this afternoon when I can steal the computer back from the hubby.

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

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Chapter 2

"Where's Alexis and Martha?" she asked as they arrived at the loft.

"Mother is teaching today."

"Teaching?"

"Yeah, hard to believe. Alexis is still at school but she'll be home around 4 or so. I sent her a text yesterday telling her about your dad. She's been worried about you."

"She's sweet."

They talked about Alexis and Martha's new teaching job for a while as they waited for the boys to bring lunch and their cars. Well, Castle talked about Martha's new job and Kate just sat there, he wasn't sure if she was listening though. Unsure of what to do, he just kept talking until the doorbell rang.

"Hey, guys," Castle said after he opened the door. "Beckett is so wound up, I am trying to let her relax so try not to stress her more."

"Hey, Beckett. We got you some Chinese."

"Thanks," Castle said as Kate nodded. "This isn't enough for all of us though."

"We already ate. Captain wanted us to tell you to make sure you call if you need anything," Esposito said.

"Thanks guys," Castle said as they left.

He started thinking that maybe he should have asked the guys to stay and have lunch with them. He knew that she was comfortable around them and if that would help her relax he would call them back, regardless of what they were doing. He turned his attention back to her and saw that she wasn't eating.

"Beckett, you need to eat," he insisted in his serious voice. He was surprised to see her start to eat. He hated to be demanding like that but she needed to eat and if this was the only way that she would, then he would deal with her anger later. Once lunch was finished, he gathered up the trash then walked around the living room doing anything he could to make it more relaxing for her. He turned off some of the extra lights, lit a fire and turned on some soothing music. Kate didn't seem to notice any of this until he pushed a glass of scotch into her hands.

"It's barely after lunch time, Castle. I'm not going to drink this."

"Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere," he insisted. "You really need to relax and try to get to sleep, Beckett. Is there anything that I can do to help you?"

"No, I just want to sit here and think."

He let her sit there for a while as he puttered around the ground floor of the loft. Castle would glance over at her often and notice that she hadn't moved. He walked up behind her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Becket… Kate… you need to try to get some sleep."

"I can't. My dad…"

"Oh, Kate." He was afraid that she was going to be pissed but he reached out and placed his other hand on her shoulder also. She flinched but didn't pull away. He tried to give her a good neck rub but her shirt kept getting in the way. Castle got an idea, excused himself and ran up the stairs. He came back with a green button up shirt and a bottle of lotion.

"What is that for, Castle?" she asked suspiciously and obviously more tense now than before.

"Go in the bathroom, put this shirt on backwards and lie down on the couch and I'll be able to give you a better massage. You need it."

"I'm not going to take my clothes off here," she said indignantly.

"I'm not asking you to take off your clothes, just to change into this other shirt. I promise I will be the perfect gentleman," he said seriously. "You need to relax Beckett. Let me help you."

Seeing no signs of his usual flirty ways, she decided to take him up on his offer. She came back a moment later with her arms wrapped around her and the shirt buttoned perfectly. The only thing he said was "That green suits you."

"It's a nice shirt, you sure you don't mind?"

"No, it was a gift and I don't usually like to wear green. Here, lie down and I promise I will be good." She balked for a moment before he used his serious voice again. "Lie down."

She stretched out on the couch and nervously waited on him to sit down beside her. Instead, he grabbed a pillow, tossed it on the floor and knelt on it. She turned her head away from him to hide her discomfort. She was hoping that he would get tired real soon and she could go ahead and leave. She knew that just the fact of whose hands on her was making her tense up even more. She couldn't control the slight shiver when his hands reached out and unbuttoned the top two buttons of the shirt. He lightly lifted her hair and moved it away from her face, much to her chagrin, she was hoping to hide behind that also.

Castle put some lotion on his hands, rubbed them together and, lightly at first, began rubbing her neck. He mostly used his fingertips with varying pressure, sliding up and down her neck. When he got to a particularly tense spot he used his thumbs and worked out the knot. Soon he worked his way lower and focused on the spot where the neck met the shoulder. He noticed that she had left on her bra so he just worked around it for a while. He let his thumbs work across the tense muscles roughly and his fingers more gently followed. He paused to unbutton a couple more buttons and add more lotion. He knew that he was going to have to remove the bra but he knew also that she would not like the idea at first. He worked below her bra strap and ran his fingers beneath it. He made sure that no matter how much he wanted to he didn't let his fingers run down her side close to her breasts. He knew that this would be over then.

He added more lotion and ran his hands flat down her back to her waistband. He pressed his thumbs hard against the muscles along her spine, causing her to groan faintly. He smiled slightly and tried to make her moan again. He was running his hands up and down her back, just stopping at her bra strap then hopping over it to start again. She started to move as if to get her arm behind her back when he stopped her and simply unfastened her bra and pushed the straps aside. She tensed slightly as he did that but once his hands were able to travel the full length of her back, she relaxed once again into the couch. He looked at her smooth yet muscled back. Without meaning to his fingers tickled her ribs, she jerked a bit, he mumbled an apology and kept his fingers away from her sides.

He coughed suddenly when he heard a key in the lock then to cover the sound of the door opening. He threw one hand up, and held up one finger in a shushing motion. He hadn't expected Alexis to be home so early.

"Dad!" Alexis exclaimed as she heard someone on the couch moan. Kate tensed again and tried to sit up.

"Shh, Kate, it's my phone," he gently pushed her back unto the couch and shot his daughter a pleading look. Alexis glared at her father but silently walked up the stairs.

Rick continued the massage but he was no longer thinking the whole time about how Kate just needed someone to comfort her and help her relax. Alexis was obviously assuming that they were doing something other than a massage. That just brought those not gentlemanly thoughts to the surface.

Rick started to watch her closely as he continued the massage. He didn't mean to and he hadn't been earlier, not like this at least. He told her that he would be the perfect gentleman and he had done so. And to his mind, that meant not noticing how beautiful she looked and how soft her skin was. He also noticed some very faint scars. He feathered his fingers over them not sure if they would be more or less sensitive. He didn't want to disturb her now but he did want to ask her about them later. He put more lotion on his hands and once again ran his hands up and down the length of her back.

He looked down at her and noticed that she was finally relaxed and asleep. He kept lightly rubbing her back for a while, not wanting to stop suddenly and cause her to wake up. He gently pulled his hands away, leaned down to look at her face now facing out and saw that she had finally dozed off. He buttoned the shirt back up but left the bra unfastened, got a blanket and lightly covered her with it. Unable to resist, he leaned down and gave her a whisper of a kiss on her forehead. He stood up a bit stiffly and knew that it was time to go explain himself to his daughter.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: Here is a short and quick part 3. I figured that since this was so short, it wouldn't be fair to post this as a day's post so here it is early. BTW, I am blown away by the response on this story! Thank you all for the reviews, story alerts and all.

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Chapter 3

Rick walked upstairs quietly and tapped on Alexis's door before sticking his head in.

"Can I come in?"

"Is she still downstairs?" she asked obviously mad at her father, arms crossed over her chest.

"Yes, she finally fell asleep. I wasn't doing anything inappropriate," he began to explain.

"Dad, I walk in to you and Kate lying on the couch obviously not wanting to be interrupted and that's not inappropriate?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"I wasn't lying on the couch. I was kneeling beside it giving Kate a massage. She stayed up all night not eating and stressing over her dad. He is stable right now but in a medically induced coma. The doctor kicked her out of the hospital. The loft is closer to the hospital than her place so I brought her here."

"Sorry, Dad," she said as she saw the truth in his eyes. "It looked not so innocent and then when I realized it was Kate, I assumed the worst."

"Alexis, I care for Kate and yes, I am attracted to her but I would never take advantage of her like that."

"I know… that's why I was so surprised."

They hugged then he took a quick shower and changed clothes. He also pulled out a set of sweats and some toiletries for Kate. He ran down to her car to see if she had an overnight bag in her trunk that he could bring up for her. He could feel himself winding down and knew that he needed to get some sleep also; but, he held out for a bit, sat on the edge of his bed and called the doctor. There was no change. Rick thought about just lying down and sleeping in bed but he didn't want to leave Kate alone. He grabbed his comforter and took it downstairs. He settled into the chair closest to Kate and quickly fell asleep.

Hours later he was gently awakened by Alexis. "Dad, it's the hospital." He suddenly was wide-awake and reaching for his phone.

"Castle," he said worried.

"Is Ms. Beckett with you? I can't get a hold of her."

"Yes, she's asleep and I turned her ringer off. How is her dad doing?"

"He's stable and doing better than I thought actually. We are keeping him sedated for a while longer but I think that he is out of the woods."

"That's great news," he said as Alexis smiled.

"There is no reason to come in again tonight. Tomorrow morning we will start to talk about when we are going to ease up on the sedation."

"Okay. I'll let Kate know when she wakes up. Thank you so much for calling."

He hung up the phone and then lightly padded off to the kitchen.

"I called Gram and she is going to be home in a little while. It's late but should I have her bring some dinner?"

"No, I think we have sandwich stuff. I'll just make something," he paused as she hopped up opened the fridge and started pulling out things. "You don't have to make it, pumpkin."

"I know, Dad. I still kind of feel bad about earlier though."

"Don't worry about it. Do we have any bacon?"

Alexis nibbled on some bacon while Rick practically inhaled a huge sandwich. He walked around the island and started to make another sandwich and seeing the look of shock on his daughter's face he explained that it was for Kate when she woke up. He put the sandwich and all the fixing back in the fridge, gave Alexis a kiss and said he was going to go back to sleep. Alexis wasn't too surprised when he went back to the living room and not upstairs. He pulled the footstool closer and settled in after checking on Kate real quick. She had rolled over onto her side but otherwise was still sound asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: You guys are amazing!Thanks for all the reviews and alerts and all. My email keeps filling up with notices and it gives me warm fuzzies. Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

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Chapter 4

Kate slept through the night and only woke when the sound of the door opening startled her. Kate opened her eyes and then realized where she was. She saw Castle asleep on the chair next to her, hair mussed and softly snoring.

"Castle. Wake up. What time is it?"

"Morning time," he mumbled, rubbing his face and running his hands through his hair.

"What? I thought the doctor said he was going to call last night."

"He did. Your dad is doing well. I didn't want to wake you."

"You should have," she insisted.

"Why? The doctor doesn't want you there until this morning and I wouldn't have let you drive home last night anyway."

She tried to be mad at him but she knew that he was just concerned for her. She watched him as he stood up, rubbed his eyes, and walk over to the stairs. He picked up a bag that looked like hers. "I got this out of your car. I'm not sure if this has a change of clothes in it for you or not but I thought you might want it. If there aren't clothes here then I have some sweats you can use."

"Thanks, Castle," she said sincerely as she stood up. Suddenly, she remembered that her bra was unhooked. Castle noticed her discomfort and decided to leave her alone for a moment.

"I'll run upstairs and make sure the shower is ready for you." He checked on both his and Alexis's shower and avoided his mother's bathroom as usual. He grabbed the sweats, t-shirt, and some toiletries and carried them out of his room to find her in the hall.

"Here are the sweats and stuff. You can use either my shower or Alexis's if you want the girly scented shampoos and stuff. I would avoid Mother's bathroom," he lowered his voice. "It's scary."

"Why is it scary?" she couldn't help but ask.

"She has so much makeup, pastes, creams, and mystery bottles it looks like a laboratory," he shuddered. She smiled at him, which he returned. "It's good to see you smiling again. What would you like me to fix you for breakfast?"

"I'll just grab something when I go visit my dad."

"I'll fix you something while you are showering. I know you have to be starved. I ate late last night and I'm still hungry. How about an omelet?"

"What do you plan on putting in it?" she asked suspiciously.

"Alexis told you about the s'morelet, I guess." She shuddered and nodded her head. "How about ham and cheese?"

"That sounds great. I'll be down in a few minutes."

"Take your time," he touched her lightly on the shoulder and smiled at her before he scampered downstairs.

She took her toiletries out of her bag but left the clothes since she hadn't had the chance to wash them. Since she was there at his door, she decided to use his shower. She went on autopilot for the most part, as she normally did while in the shower, until she started to wash her hair. She was suddenly enveloped with his scent and she stopped to think about what she was doing. She was wondering about why she was letting Castle boss her around like he has been since he gave her the coffee in the waiting room. She knew that she had been out of character for her but she was worried about her dad. Maybe it would have been better to use Alexis's shower and she wouldn't have this on her mind, also.

Kate finished her shower then walked downstairs, feeling a bit nervous in his clothes. He didn't say anything when he handed her a plate with a fluffy omelet, bacon and toast on it. He then passed her a cup of coffee, knowing that would be the first thing she would reach for. He smiled slightly to himself when he saw that he was right.

"Need to toss your clothes in the wash?"

"I'll wash them when I get home," she insisted.

"That's okay. I have some shirts that need to get washed anyway. Mind if I toss them in with your stuff?"

"Sure. Just put them in a pile and I'll take care of them."

"I can do it, Kate," he said with a smile until he saw the look of determination on her face. "Unless you don't want me seeing your under things." The determination turned into a glare. He thought it would be best to not mention that he had seen the back of a rather lacy bra the night before.

"Kate, there is something that I wanted to talk to you about. Last night when the doctor was assuming I was your husband, he said something about a problem with your dad's insurance."

"Oh, no. I told him not to let the policy lapse. He doesn't have insurance?"

"I'm not sure. Once I told the doctor, we weren't married; he clammed up and wouldn't say anything else." She lowered her head, but not before he could see the despair. "I told the doctor that he should just send the bills to me."

"No. I will not let you do that."

"Kate, I have more money than I know what to do with and a large part of it is because of you and Nikki Heat."

"No, it's too much money. I shouldn't have let you pay that money to try to find out my mother's killer either but I got sucked into the case again. Had I thought rationally, I wouldn't have let you do it."

"And, I would have done it anyway," he insisted

"I can't ever pay you back. My family has some money but not enough to cover this. Not in this economy."

"I don't care, seriously. Even in this economy."

"How can you say that?"

"I don't like talking about my money; I don't really want to flaunt it. Yes, I have this great loft and nice things but I don't go flashing it around. Not anymore. I used to when I first got on the best seller list but I learned my lesson after a few too many people wanted to be friends just because of my wallet."

"I don't want your money."

"I know that Kate. That's one of the reasons I like you all at the precinct so much. Let me tell you a bit of a story. When I wrote my first book, I had a little too much fun with my check from it. Shortly after, there was nothing left. I decided to do a grown-up thing and I hired a financial advisor to help take care of the money. Since I was still young, he put most of it in high risk, high interest things and after the first few Derrick Storm books, I didn't need to write any more, not to survive. Financially, at least. I loved writing and part of me needed that release to survive."

"The women wanting you to sign their boobs probably didn't hurt either."

"Can't say that it did," he said with his charming smile as he continued his breakfast. "But I only did that between marriages. Back to the money- I never worried about the stock market or anything because even if I lost a lot, I knew that I would be okay. I had enough aside to live modestly and put Alexis in the best colleges, and that was all that was important to me. I also knew that I had another Derrick Storm in the wings at any time."

"But you got bored with Storm."

"Yes, a couple of years ago, I was getting burned out and I told my advisor to switch my things to long term, safe investments. I couldn't assume anymore that I would have any more novels so I thought that I should be careful. Shortly after that the market started tanking. In short, I got lucky. And then I met you and came up with Nikki Heat. And you know how well those are going."

"How can I ever repay you?"

"You don't need to," he said surprising himself a bit at not making a sex joke but knowing somehow that this was definitely not the time for that. "I told you, I am happy to help you. What's the point of having the money if I can't use it for things that I need it for?"

"But you don't need to help my dad out."

"Yes, I do. He's your dad and you are one of my best friends. I'll do anything to help you, anything you need. You just need to ask."

"Thank you, Rick."

"I'm going to go hop in the shower. I'll leave the shirts that I want to toss in the wash on the foot of the bed, if you don't mind tossing them in with your stuff. The laundry room is right back there," he pointed to a door at the back of the kitchen. "You should be able to find all the soap and everything you need there."

Rick gave her a quick pat on the back before he went upstairs. He knew that she probably wanted a little time to herself to do some thinking. He was thinking about her as well. Soon, he was finished and they were both dressed in casual clothes. As soon as they got to the hospital, Dr. Regan and Dr. Sandburg, the neurosurgeon, let Kate in to see her father. Rick stayed outside of his room.

"Dr. Regan, a moment please."

"I can't tell you anything, Mr. Castle. Not without permission. I only told you last night because I wasn't able to get a hold of Ms. Beckett."

"I understand that. That's no problem. To whom do I talk to about billing?"

"I can tell you but they probably won't be any help to you either. We take the HIPPA laws very seriously here."

"Doctor," Kate suddenly interrupted as she left the room alone. "Can I have the name of the person who takes care of the billing and stuff?"

"Are you sure, Kate?" Rick asked.

"Yes. You're my partner and it just makes sense to give you permission to know, I'll just tell you anyway."

"Okay, Ms. Beckett. I'll get those forms ready for you. We verified that your dad's insurance policy did lapse about a month ago. We are a county hospital so if you can't afford it, we will still treat him but until then how did you want to handle the billing?"

"Send the bills directly to me and I'll have a check for you," she looked up at Rick. "My friend is going to be helping me out a bit."

"Very well. Since we have all that out of the way, your dad is doing a lot better than we expected him to be doing at this time. He will be on some heavy duty pain meds still but he will be awake soon."

"He is a recovering alcoholic, if that makes any difference. Just about 7 years sober now."

"We can have a counselor come and talk to him about drug addiction. Sometimes with injuries like his and an addictive personality, it can cause problems. If you know about the possibility from the beginning, there is a less likely chance of that occurring though. If you two will excuse me, I'll get the forms that you need to fill out."

"Why don't you just have the bills sent to me?" Rick asked after the doctor left.

"And trust that the billing people aren't seeing that you are paying a huge medical bill for my father. You know that would get out to the tabloids."

"True. I'll have mother write you the checks or whatever way you would prefer."

"Ms. Beckett," said Dr. Sandburg as he walked out of the hospital room. "Your dad is doing remarkably well. We will probably start to taper off on the sedation drugs this evening and wake him up fully in the morning. I'll see you in the afternoon, I have some other patients to see."

"That's great news. Thank you, Dr. Sandburg," she said as she turned to Rick surprising him by giving him a hug. "My dad's going to be okay."

"I told you so," he said as he absently ran his hand up and down her spine.

"I don't believe you did," she smiled at him. "I still don't know how I will ever thank you."

"That hug was good thanks," he smiled at her as he wondered what suddenly went through her mind.

Kate knew that there was no way that she could ever repay him the money that he was going to be shelling out long term for her dad's medical bills. Not monetarily at least. She reached up and tightening up one arm that was around his neck, went to kiss him. Rick turned just slightly at the last moment so the kiss landed on his cheek instead. Her eyes flew open in shock. He could read that emotion in her eyes followed quickly by embarrassment. He looked around and pulled her into an alcove down the hall a bit.

"Katherine Beckett, look at me," he began. When she refused he lightly cupped her face in his hands bringing her eyes to meet his. "When you kiss me, and I mean really kiss me, I want to see passion, love or even just lust in your eyes. Not gratitude."

She flushed slightly, knowing that he realized why she went to kiss him. He didn't say anything; he just pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Sorry this part is a bit late today. You guys are really great with your reviews and stuff. Thanks y'all!

* * *

Chapter 5

It had been about a week since Jim Beckett's accident and this was the first time that Rick had the chance to get together with his writing buddies. They were all sitting around playing poker and drinking some of the good scotch that he hid from his mother. He had a sorry hand this round so he was happy to fold and hop up to answer the doorbell.

"Beckett, what can I do for you?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Of course," he said, escorting her into his study. "I'll be right back guys."

"Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt your game. I'll come back some other time."

"Don't be silly. It's okay, Patterson is winning everything tonight anyway." He watched her, as she remained silent, not meeting his eyes. "How's your dad doing?"

"He's awake and not happy, I can tell you that."

"Why not?"

"He actually wants to go home. Says that he'll be just fine with a severely broken leg, several broken ribs, and lets not forget the cracked skull. He's so damn stubborn."

"A stubborn Beckett? Really?"

He could see the fire in her eyes but there was something else there. He could tell that she was struggling with a decision, debating with herself if she wanted to say something or not. She looked away and slipped off her jacket. Turning back to him she up into his eyes and he saw the lost look that she had the last time she was here at the loft, the lost and haunted look. He knew that he would do anything to help her but he knew he was walking a fine line here. If she were anyone else, he would probably just take her to bed and make her forget her troubles in that way. Rick didn't want to do that with Kate. He knew that he could probably make her forget about her problems but he knew it would ruin what they had in the long run. At least a sexual relationship right now would. He thought about the last time she was here and how he pretty much took over and forced her to relax. He realized that she needed someone to do that for her but she just didn't know how to ask. He just hoped that she understood that before she decked him after he said what he planned.

"Kate, have a seat," he said without the usual gentleness in his voice. "I'll be back as soon as I kick the guys out."

"You don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do." He walked out of the study and returned a few minutes later after the guys left.

"What did you tell them?" she asked nervously.

"That you needed some help with something. They are good friends, they understand."

"I didn't mean for you to make them leave."

"If you need me to call off a poker game to talk, not a problem. You are more important to me than a silly game. In fact, I would pretty much drop anything to help you if you need it. I assure you that other than Alexis and Mother, you are the person that means the most to me and I would do what ever you need to make you happy. And they care about you too. If that means that they need to leave so we can talk, no problem."

Once again, he watched her for a moment. She was quiet and wouldn't meet his eyes again.

"Wait here," he said as he walked out of the study. He returned a moment later with the green button down shirt and the massage oil.

"Katherine," he said not harshly but with no gentleness. "Change into this then meet me in the living room."

Her eyes flared for a moment before all fight left them. He almost reached out to hug her but he managed to hold himself back as she took the shirt then walked away. He took a deep breath then went into the living room to start a fire and light some candles. He pushed the coffee table out of the way and was tossing a blanket on the floor when she came back in wearing the green shirt and her slacks.

"Lie down on the blanket, Katherine." He could see a small flicker of fight in her eyes before she backed down and did as he demanded. "You know what my safe word is, what is yours?"

"Safe word?" she turned to look at him.

"Yes, you use is the second that you think I am taking too much control. The instant you feel uncomfortable, you use it."

"I know what a safe word is, Castle," she winced. "I don't want to call you Castle."

"Use my middle name. Your safe word, Katherine."

"Shark, Alexander," she said after a moment of thought. "My safe word is shark."

Rick waited for her to get comfortable on the blanket and once she was, he reached out and unbuttoned the shirt. He noticed that she had already removed her bra so he would be able to give her a better massage. He grabbed the massage oil and after rubbing it on his hands he lightly touched her back. She flinched at first but soon relaxed under his hands.

Ten minutes later, she was asleep. He buttoned her shirt, lightly touching the scars as went up her back. He covered her with a blanket before he stood up to get his drink. He came back with two glasses of his good scotch and sat down on the couch, putting the extra drink on the end table. He was glad that he hadn't had too much to drink while playing poker; he didn't want his judgment to be in any way impaired when he had his hands on her. He watched her for a while thinking about just what all was going on. Kate Beckett was one of the strongest women that he had ever met and it seemed so out of character for her to be so lost. He knew that her dad's injuries were causing her more stress and a person could only take so much before they completely snapped. If giving her a massage was what she needed to not snap, he would be happy to do it.

Castle also thought it was rather unusual for her to be as touchy as she has been. He was always in her personal space, he liked being near her and he could tell that it set her a bit off balance. Usually, that was fun but he didn't want to add to her stress level too much right now. He was trying to be respectful of her space and actually tried to listen to her while at the precinct. She was fine with it at the precinct, and hadn't even commented on it other than one raised eyebrow one morning when he could have made a particularly juicy comment but didn't.

It was when they were here that she was so different. It was as if she longed to be held and comforted. He was happy to do it, he enjoyed holding her but he was beginning to enjoy it a little too much he was afraid. He had been honest when he told her that he would do just about anything for her but if this kept up, he didn't know how he would be able to not want something more than she was ready to give. Sure he could have gotten her into bed last week but that was wrong and he knew it. Especially since they were both seeing other people right now. He just hoped that she would still be able to see him as a potential lover and not just a buddy once all this was over with.

"Why did you let me fall asleep?" she asked suddenly as she woke up.

"Because you were exhausted. Grab the blanket, come over here."

She walked over to him and was a bit surprised when he pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped the blanket around them making sure to cover their bare feet. He wanted to talk to her about why she was here tonight. He knew that she needed to relax and the massage helped with that but he needed to know the other reasons. Castle looked at her and knew that this was when she would be more likely to use her safe word. Emotions and such always seemed to be harder for her to deal with.

"Why did you ask me for a safe word? This wasn't really something that needed one," she commented as he held her in his arms.

"I know. I also know that you are not the kind to give up control easily and I wanted you to have that last option available to you."

"Thank you," she said as she met his eyes, hers full of gratitude.

"So, why don't you want to call me Castle tonight?"

"It doesn't feel right, not like this. Besides you called me Katherine instead of Kate or Beckett."

"The Kate Beckett that I know is a wonderful, beautiful, and very strong woman. You seemed unsure of yourself tonight so I thought Katherine would be more appropriate. I also know your dad calls you Katie and I figured that would be just too weird. By the way, why did you pick Alexander instead of Edgar?"

"Really, you have to ask?" she pulled back and tried to joke but something told him it was more than just a dislike of the old fashioned name.

"Yes, I think I do have to ask," he said looking into her eyes.

"Remember when you told me Alexander was your middle name?" he nodded. "Penny Marchand had told me that an Alexander would be very important to me and possibly save my life. Rick Castle has saved my life several times now but Alexander, I think he saved my sanity."

He pulled her closer to him, surprised that she seemed so much smaller without her towering heels on. He just held her for a while, lightly rubbing her back, reminding him about the faint scars on her back.

"So what is the story behind the scars on your back?" he felt her tense up before he added, "Katherine."

"I was in college and I was trying different things, I met a guy who I thought might be the one. We were together for a couple of weeks when he asked me if I would dominate him. I really wasn't into that but I thought I loved him so I tried. It didn't go over so well but I eventually learned a lot about that whole lifestyle."

"If you were the domme, how did you get the scars?" he asked gently.

"Because the next time he told me that he would show me how to do it," she shivered in memory. He tucked her head into his chest a little tighter and stroked her hair.

"Tell me what he did."

"No, not today."

"I could ask you again, Katherine."

"Yes, you could but I can't tell you today. I have a safe word this time and I know I can use it, Alexander."

"You didn't have a safe word and he used whips on you?" he asked incredulously.

"I was wrong in trusting him. That was definitely a mistake."

"I would say so."

"I never trusted anyone else like that again. Not until now," she lightly placed her hand on his chest over his heart. He put his hand over hers and gave her a squeeze.

"Is that what this is? A bondage thing?"

"No. I will not be tied up again, Castle."

He realized right away that the scene was over once she called him Castle. She stood up and walked over to the fireplace. Kate took several deep breaths before she turned around to look at him.

"I trust you, Castle, but there are some things that I will not do."

"That's okay, Beckett. I don't want to push you into anything you are uncomfortable with."

"I know. Do you want to get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Sure. Wanna eat out, get take out, order in or forage for leftovers here?" he suddenly was back to his normal silly self.

"Forage will be fine. I don't really want to go out and I don't want to wait for delivery."

They headed to the kitchen to see what they could find as leftovers. Kate claimed the leftover orange chicken from the day before and Rick decided to make an omelet with all sorts of goodies inside.

"Do you want to talk anymore?" he asked.

"No," she said just before she took a large bite of chicken.

"I didn't mean to overstep."

"You didn't, Castle. I do trust you but I just can't talk about that right now. I'll tell you some other time, just not yet."

"Okay. How is your dad doing?"

"He's just being very stubborn. He actually thinks that the doctors are going to let him go home just because he is saying can take care of himself."

"They aren't letting him are they?"

"Of course not. I actually have medical power of attorney so he can't make any medical decisions even if the doctors would let him."

"I am thinking he doesn't like that," Castle said as he finished off his omelet.

"Not at all. I just don't think Dad realizes how close he was to not pulling through. I tried to tell him and I had the doctor tell him about his injuries and surgeries in detail and he just seemed more intent on leaving."

"You know if there is anything you need, you just need to ask, right?" he reminded her as he gently put his hand on her shoulder as he reached around her to take her now empty dinner plate.

"I know Castle, and I appreciate it."

"Wanna stay and watch a movie?"

She knew that she needed to leave but jumped at the chance to stay and watch a movie with him. For some crazy reason he put on Die Hard. She had seen it often enough that she didn't really have to pay attention so she let herself get lost in thought. They sat on the couch next to each other but without touching. She smiled to herself about the difference from about an hour ago when he was sitting on his lap.

She wondered why she would do that because she was never one to cuddle like that. She thought it had more to do with the person she was sitting next to than the way she was raised. Even though he was a writer, Castle was a very physical person and very affectionate. She knew that on their first case once she saw him interact with his daughter. Over the past two years she has gotten used to him always invading her personal space. This last week at work had been a bit different though, he seemed to actually be respecting her space. She was glad that he was giving her a bit of time to focus on other things but she hoped that once things with her father calmed down, he would return to some of the annoying habits that used to drive her crazy.

Kate also hoped that once things calmed down she would have some answers that she had for herself. She knew that she had been acting a bit strange and she knew that she wasn't the only one who was curious about it either. Ever since college she was always in control, she liked it that way. She didn't have to depend on anyone for any thing. She was okay with that, until Castle showed up at the hospital and forced a damn coffee cup into her hands. Kate had no idea why she suddenly seemed to be willing to take orders from Castle of all people. No, she knew why, she trusted him. She knew that he would not take advantage of her. He would never try to push her farther than she wanted to go.

She also knew that he would never try to make it into a sexual relationship, not during a scene at least. She wasn't sure what she would do if he tried but she knew that she would never trust him again. She was embarrassed when she thought about how she practically offered her self to him that one day and how mad she was when he refused. She realized how wrong that was now. And she hadn't even considered Josh or Gina, the people that they were actually dating. Kate knew that eventually they would take their relationship to the next level and she was okay with that. Of course, if someone had told her 6 months ago that she was even considering that, she would have laughed at him or her.

Maybe her sudden need for physical contact was part of her control issues she realized. Letting Rick or actually Alexander, in close enough to always be touching her was a way of giving up control. She knew this wasn't really like most domination/submission relationships that she had heard about, for the first part, there was no sex involved. Also he wasn't telling her to do things to please him, he was just forcing her to relax. Maybe in one way, it was to please him because she knew that he wanted what was best for her.

"Kate," his worried voice suddenly broke into her thoughts as his hand touched hers.

"Yeah," she looked at him startled.

"The movie's over."

"Already? I spaced out through all of the Alan Rickman scenes?"

"I know, isn't he the best bad guy?" She smiled to see the nine year old sugar rush grin appear for the first time all night.

"It's getting late so I should go back to my place. Thanks again, Rick," she said as she gave him a quick hug.

"Good night, Kate."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: Okay, I sure hope I didn't scare everyone away with the last part. This is not going to turn into a bondage sex story. I know some people are a little put off about the Katherine/Alexander thing but trust me, there is a reason for that and it is answered later in the story. Also there is a hopefully subtle thread through the parts that might explain it before the actual conversation that they have. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 6

Rick was in his office at his bar doing some writing when someone called down to him. It was his manager Nick, letting him know that he had a call on the bar line.

"Who is it?" Rick asked not really happy about being disturbed. He only had about 10 minutes left for this chapter then he could take a break.

"Kate," Nick responded. "I know she is on the list of people who can interrupt you but so is your mother and you said you didn't want to talk to her tonight. I thought I should check."

"Not a problem. Thanks for checking," he said all irritation evaporated as soon as he heard her name. He picked up the phone.

"Hello," Rick said glad to hear her voice.

"Are you busy?" she asked.

"Not for you. I'm at the bar if you want to come over."

"I'm outside, I'll be right in."

Rick hung up the phone then ran up the stairs to meet her. Nick was usually very good about screening his calls or any visitors that he might have. He didn't want Kate to have a problem getting in. He saw her walk into the door and watched as she walked over to the bar as he spoke to Nick.

"Can I get you a drink?" she shook her head then let him lead her to his office.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said once he closed his door.

"Just doing some writing. I've realized that I can't quite tune everything out as well as I used to be able to when I was younger. I just can't use the booth upstairs anymore, not when the bar is this crowded at least."

"I don't want to keep you from your book."

"No, it's okay. I was going to finish this chapter then take a break. I thought it would take you at least that long to get here. I didn't realize you were outside. Can you give me about 5 minutes or it is urgent?"

"It can wait." She hung up her jacket then looked around his new office to see how he had decorated it. She could tell that he was watching her for a few minutes before she heard a sudden flurry of typing. For a man who didn't use too many fingers to type he sure could type fast when he wanted to.

"All done," he said as he saved his file and pushed the laptop away.

"That was quicker than I thought it would be."

"I was writing a Nikki scene and my inspiration just walked in, it makes the scene go faster. What's up?" he asked wondering what was wrong.

"Not much."

"How's your dad?" She sighed letting him realize something had gone wrong. "Is he okay?"

"Physically, he's fine."

"Richard," Martha's voice suddenly called out on the other side of the door. It was his turn to sigh.

"Yes, Mother."

"Why is the door locked?" she asked as she tried the knob.

"Because I wanted privacy, Mother. I am trying to write," he said loudly before dropping his voice just for Kate. "Want to avoid her?"

"Yes."

"I'll be right there, Mother, I need to save my file," he said as he lightly pulled on the bookcase and revealed the hidden door. Kate was surprised that it was now so much easier to get into. She walked through before he reached in and turned on the lights, then he closed the door behind her. He spotted her jacket on the coat tree and quickly put his over top of hers so that he mother wouldn't see it. He finally unlocked the door and let her in.

"I told you I didn't want to be disturbed, Mother."

"Pssh, this was important. Kate was calling for you, she sounded upset so I got worried when I couldn't get a hold of you either."

"I turned off the ringer, I told you I was going to."

"You really need to tell Nick to patch me through to you if there is an emergency."

"Mother, with you, everything is an emergency," he said his harsh words at odds with his laughing tone.

"Very funny, kiddo. I didn't know if something happened to you. I didn't think you were working on a case but you don't always tell me when you go out on one so I didn't know."

"I'm sorry, Mother. I'll tell Nick to let you know if I am here at least but I don't always want to be disturbed for everything okay?"

"I figured that if Kate was upset, you would want to know," she said as she reached for her ringing phone. "Hello. Oh Kate, I'm here at the bar with Richard. Did you still want to talk to him? How did you get Nick to pass your call through? Yes, a badge would help. Talk to you later, kiddo," she said with a smile as she hung up the phone.

"She wants you to call her when you can. I better get back to the loft, lets hope Gina's gone by the time I get back."

"Mother," he said surprised.

"She seems to want to fight with everyone in the family, except Alexis," Martha explained. "I just cannot get along with her lately. And I'm not the only one. You seem to be fighting a lot more also."

"I realize that. We are just two strong willed personalities, being together can be difficult sometimes."

"I just have one question, son. If it didn't work before, what makes you think it will work this time?"

"I don't know, Mother. I really don't know," he sat down at his desk.

"I won't keep you any longer. Will you be home tonight?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure. I have a few chapters to do be caught up to my schedule."

"Give me a call if you need anything, just not too late. I do need my beauty sleep."

"Good night, Mother," he said with a smile as she turned and he suddenly spotted Kate's scarf dangling from the coat tree.

"You aren't alone are you?" Martha said as she saw the scarf also.

"You are here, Mother," he tried to improvise.

"You know very well what I mean, Richard. You don't have a green scarf. You never wear green." She met his eyes and said seriously, "You better hope Gina doesn't find out about this."

"I'm not doing anything wrong."

"You might think that, but will Gina?" she asked as she walked out of his office.

Rick locked the door behind her and turned to see Kate walking out of the secret door.

"Sorry if I got you in trouble," she said.

"Mother won't say anything," he said as he looked down at his phone before laughing. He handed the phone to Kate to show her the text that his mother just sent.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," read the text.

"That gives us plenty of leeway then," Rick said.

Kate laughed then said "Thank you for hiding me."

"Not a problem. I didn't think you would want anyone to know you were here. Mother said you were upset, anything I can help with?" he asked.

"Can I have a massage?"

"Sure. I don't have your shirt here or any massage oil though."

"My shirt?"

"Yeah, your green one. Mother was right, I don't wear green," he said with a smile. "I think she's just mad because she is the one who gave me that shirt. Have a seat and I'll see what I can come up with. Would you like something to drink?"

"I'm fine," she replied.

"I need to run upstairs but I'll be right back." He came back a few minutes later with a tray with a couple of glasses, several bottles, and some snacks.

"It is getting cold out there. I wanted to grab something from the car," he continued at her questioning look. He watched her as he pulled his shirt from his waistband then started to unbutton it. He was curious to know how long she would hold his eyes before she turned away. He was surprised when she never dropped her gaze. He walked over to hand her the shirt he removed before he spoke.

"You can change in the restroom over there."

She finally broke eye contact and after removing her heels, she padded over to change. Castle put on the t-shirt that he went to the car for. He looked around and there wasn't any good spot for her to stretch out on the floor and the couch was rather narrow and all the pillows were attached. He watched as she walked out of the bathroom wearing his blue shirt. He had her lie on the couch anyway and figured that he would just have to sit on the edge. He hoped that she didn't mind the more intimate position but he also knew that once the massage was over she would be curled on up his lap. Twenty minutes later, she was.

"So you said last week that this isn't a bondage thing, what exactly is this?" he asked.

"It is a domination/submission thing," she said as she looked into his eyes to see his reaction. "I know it's a myth about people in high powered jobs liking to be dominated-"

"That's a myth?" he interrupted.

"It's the people in high powered jobs who can afford to pay a dominatrix, Alex."

"Good point. Sorry I interrupted."

"I work hard hours in a demanding job. I like to be in control. It's just that sometimes, it gets to be too much when everyone is looking to me to fix everything."

"So you just need someone to help you by taking control?" he asked.

"Just for a little while. I don't want to give up control all the time," she said.

"So are all domination submission things non-sexual?" he asked after a few moments.

"No, most of them that I know about aren't. And before you say anything, you were the one who stopped that," she said.

"I know. I don't regret that though. I don't think you do either," he looked at her intensely.

"No," she said as she broke eye contact. "You made the right decision and I do appreciate it."

"I do think about it though," he said unable to resist as he squeezed her a bit.

"Me too," she said quietly. "We could..."

"No. When we make love it won't be as Katherine and Alex, it will be as Kate and Rick," he said lightly tracing a finger down her cheek. She looked into his eyes and saw the truth there but somewhat afraid of it, she again looked away.

"So Alex, you are okay with this, right? You know, you are a bit of a contradiction."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I was thinking back on that one case," she said.

"Mistress Irena and her house of pain?"

"Yeah, that one. You joke about safe words and letting me spank you but once we were there you were so nervous and obviously uncomfortable."

"That's one thing I always thought about fantasies. It might be fun to talk about them but that doesn't mean you actually want to do it in real life."

"So you don't want to do this anymore?" she asked quietly.

"I didn't say that. I'll do it as long as you need me to help you. I thought you would know by now that I would do anything for you."

"Even something you hate."

"I don't hate it Katherine. It's just not something I ever really thought about. And it's not something that I would want to do on a long-term basis. Long term being an all the time thing."

"So you don't mind being a bit of a dom occasionally?"

"Exactly," Rick said. "You never told me about how you picked your safe word. Is that the one you used before?"

"No, I couldn't tell you what it was in college. It was some esoteric word that he only said once. Remember when you first started to help me with cases when the murderer was copying your books," he nodded. "Esposito made a comment that he was going to enjoy watching me work with you. He said that a control freak like me with something I couldn't control would be more fun than Shark Week."

"I could see him saying that too," he chuckled.

"I have a question for you," she said after a moment. "You know a lot about this sort of thing but you are rather uncomfortable about it. And yet you always have joked about having a safe word. Most people don't have those unless they are, um, 'practicing.'"

"I've used 'Apples' as a safe word since I was married to Gina."

"So you have done this sort of thing before?"

"No. We used to fight all the time and one of us thought it would be a good idea to use a certain word to call an end to the fights if we were around Alexis."

"So if you just used a safe word to stop fights, then why do you know so much about them and other things?"

"I looked up safe words online," he replied.

"What does that have to do with Dungeon Alley?"

"Do you actually think I stopped just at safe words?" She smiled. "I researched it in depth, I thought it might be good for a book."

"I don't remember that in any of them."

"Gina didn't like that story line, so it never got finished. Of course, I might bring it back for something for Nikki though."

Kate nearly jumped off his lap at that comment. His arms around her waist were the only things keeping her from running away.

"I will never include any details that Katherine shares with Alexander in my books. Ever," he said seriously.

Kate took a deep ragged breath then leaned back against his chest.

"If Nikki does deal with the bondage thing it will be based off that case we had. Not this. If you would like, you can have a copy before it even goes to Gina to check it."

"No, I trust you. I figure that I dealt with all the talk about hand margaritas and I assured everyone that was just your imagination, I can deal with something else. I'm sure that no matter what you write and even if I give you permission, some one will take it the wrong way."

"That's probably true. Do you mind?"

"Not really," she said as she rested her hand on his chest drawing her attention again to his NYPD t-shirt. "Where did you get this shirt?"

"Esposito."

"Why is Detective Esposito giving you clothes?" she asked with a smile.

"Because you spilled coffee all over me."

"When did I do that?"

"After you got the call about your father."

"You never did tell me how you knew to come to the hospital," she asked. He immediately looked a little nervous.

"We were all worried about you and so I checked your messages. Yes, I know your password and no, I have never used it before or since. The captain sent me to follow you but I was covered in coffee so Esposito tossed me his shirt from his gym bag. I washed it and have been meaning to give it back but I keep forgetting it in my car."

"I probably should get going," she said as she pulled back. "I'll let you get back to work."

"You can stay if you would like, Kate. I have some books here if you want to read."

"Thanks but I think I'll head out." She stood up and headed over to the bathroom to change back into her shirt. When she came back out, he was once again behind his desk writing, so she placed the shirt on the arm of the couch.

"Why did you have me hide in the tunnel when Martha came if you have a bathroom?" she asked suddenly thinking about it.

"Because," he said without looking up, "Mother doesn't go into the tunnel."

He finished the sentence that he was writing then stood up and walked around his desk. He slipped on his jacket before helping her with hers. "I'll walk you to your car."

"Castle, I'm a cop. I can handle myself."

"I know, Beckett but I want to stretch my legs before I start writing again."

She just rolled her eyes at him and headed up the stairs. She unlocked her car with the remote, and then surprised him by reaching up and giving him a quick peck on his cheek.

"Thank you, Castle."

She turned and slipped into her car before he could say anything. He smiled then headed back to his office. He picked up the shirt, intending to put it back on when he caught a whiff of cherries. He knew that he would be too distracted by that to keep writing so he left on the t-shirt. He also knew that he couldn't take the shirt home until he knew that there was no way that Gina would find it. She would assume that he was cheating on her and even though he wasn't, there was no way that he could prove it. Rick would not be telling Gina, or anyone else, why he was spending so much more time with Kate lately. Besides, Gina was jealous enough about Kate, there was no way that she would believe any story even if it were the truth. He tossed the shirt back on the couch and went to Nikki Heat. Several hours later, after he had moved over to the couch, Rick stretched out and after reaching out to touch the shirt Kate had worn, he fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Notes: First of all, I would like to apologize for not posting this part sooner. I had a review that made me think about how I had written this and I wanted to make a few changes. The biggest changes will be coming at the end of the story but it should still flow pretty well. And I feel that the review in question has made this a better story so thanks!

Also, I have enabled the anonymous reviews. Please be kind. :)

Chapter 7

It was a nice lazy Saturday for Richard Castle. He was finally back on schedule with his third Nikki Heat novel. He had plans to leave the following week to go out to California to watch some of the filming of Nikki Heat and do some West Coast book publicity while he was there. Gina was there already to get some of the details worked out and he honestly was glad that they had this space right now. His mother was off on a weekend cruise with some friends and Alexis was spending the day with Ashley and his family.

Rick was thinking about another story that had been on his mind for the last couple of weeks so he started to write out some of it. He was surprised to find that it practically flew onto the page. Ever since he started writing, sometimes he would get an idea that just wouldn't leave him alone until he wrote it down. Usually, once he wrote the random idea, it would be out of his mind and he could then focus on what he was supposed to be writing but this was different for him. Not only was it not a normal murder mystery, it was a rather serious introspection piece.

He had intended to write out the one scene that he had thought of all morning, but more kept flying from his fingertips, adding page after page. The spell was broken when the doorbell rang. A quick glance at the time while saving his file, made him realize that he had worked for about 4 hours straight and missed lunch.

"Hello," he said as he opened to door revealing an unhappy looking Kate. "What's wrong?"

"Have you eaten?" he asked when she didn't respond. She shook her head, "Come on in. I've been writing all day and I missed lunch. Wanna join me?"

"Sure. I thought you said that you were almost done the third book." She was glad that he was taking her mind off the reason she came here today.

"I am, but this was something else that I was working on," he explained as he started pulling out makings for sandwiches. "I just needed to get the idea out so my head first so I can finish the other book. I'll get back to Heat Rises this afternoon probably."

"Heat Rises?" she asked with one eyebrow raised. "I guess that's better than Naked Heat."

"Turkey or roast beef sandwich," he asked with a smile.

"Roast beef. Do you have horseradish?"

"Of course. In the fridge, help yourself to a drink or anything else."

He smiled as he watched her make herself at home and rummaged through his fridge. Once the sandwiches were made, they sat on the stools and talked about his California trip the next week. They also talked about Ryan and Jenny's engagement party scheduled for the following night.

"Something tells me that you didn't just stop over here for a sandwich and to talk about my trip," he said after they both finished their lunch.

"Dad found out about the insurance."

"What happened?"

"The people at the hospital knew the situation so they never spoke about it but the people at the physical therapy place didn't know. I hadn't had the chance to talk to them about it yet. We were going to have lunch when someone mentioned the bills were being sent to me. He said they should be sent to his insurance. The lady then mentioned that his insurance was canceled. He knew that it was of course, but he didn't want me to know. He didn't take it too well when he found out that I knew all along. I think that is why he was so adamant about leaving the hospital once he woke up. He knew that he couldn't afford the bills."

"Did you tell him I was going to take care of it?"

"Yeah, and that really didn't go over well either," she said.

"I hope you told him that I was insistent."

"I tried but he wasn't listening. I'm hoping he'll calm down in a few days about it. He doesn't need to worry about this also."

"Would you like me to talk to him about it?" he asked.

"I don't know if that will do any good but I'll think about it and let you know."

"Okay," he said not wanting to push the subject anymore.

"You know one thing I miss about my old apartment?" she asked rhetorically. "My nice big bath tub. My new place only has a shower."

"I have a tub upstairs and I can swipe some bubble bath from Alexis if you would like," he offered.

"Okay," she surprised him.

"My tub is the biggest and it has jets if you want," he said as they headed upstairs. "You go ahead start the water and I'll be in with some bubble bath in a few."

Rick walked into his bedroom and pulled the door closed behind him. He tapped on the partially closed bathroom door and walked in when she said to. He put down the armful of bath products that he grabbed. She smiled at how he had to go overboard and not just grab one thing of bubble bath but three different scents, various bath salts, and a pillow for the tub. He even handed her a tie for her hair. She selected a bubble bath and protested when he put far too much in the tub. Kate then laughed with him as he turned on the jets and watched the bubbles multiply quickly.

"Dad," Alexis' voice suddenly broke into their laughter. Thinking it was his phone, Rick reached for it before she spoke again. "Hey Dad, are you okay? Your door's locked."

"Just a minute, pumpkin," he called out as he turned off the jets. "Go ahead and hop in, I'll be back in a minute."

He walked away, shutting the bathroom door all the way before he could see her expression. He unlocked his door.

"Why are you home? I thought you were going to spend all day with Ashley and his family?"

"I just came home to grab a change of clothes for tonight. His parents want to take us out to dinner and I want to wear something a little nicer. Why did you lock the door?"

"I didn't realize it was locked. Honest," he insisted when he saw the disbelief on her face. "I was going to take a nice long bath and I shut the door. I guess I must have hit the lock at some point and not realized it."

"Well you have a nice bath. I'll lock up when I leave. See ya, Dad," she said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room.

He closed his door behind her and made a point to leave it unlocked. Rick looked over at the closed bathroom door and wondered if Kate had locked the door once he closed it. He tapped lightly on the door as he tried the knob.

"Are you decent?" he asked.

"Come on in. I think you went a little crazy with the bubbles," she said with a smile. He returned the smile when he looked at the tub and could see only her head and mountains of bubbles.

"I guess I shouldn't have turned on the jets that much," he said as he sat down on the floor just next to the tub facing away from her.

"Wanna explain why you locked your bedroom door, Castle?" she asked with a smile.

"I didn't know I had. That lock is a little flaky, sometimes if you lock it then open the door, it stays locked. You wouldn't believe the number of times I've been locked out of my own bedroom."

"Gina locks you out a lot?" she asked jokingly.

"No, Gina doesn't stay over here often. Certainly not lately," he said a bit sadly.

"Why not?" she asked seriously.

"We've been having a lot of arguments recently."

"Do you want to talk about it, Rick?" she asked.

"She gets jealous of anything that takes me away from writing. I can barely get her to accept going into the precinct since that is research at least. Even though she says that I have done enough research and I shouldn't keep bothering you."

"You don't bother me. Too much," she said as she lifted her right hand, shook off the bubbles and touched his shoulder. He smiled and bringing his left hand up he gave her hand a squeeze.

"She really doesn't much care for the fact that I bought the bar. That's what most of the fights lately have been about. Well, she probably doesn't care that I bought it, just that I want to be a part of it. That was an important place for me when I started writing and I would like that to continue, Kate. I want to be a bigger part of the history of the place, not just some silent owner."

"Just explain that to her," she said as she gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"I've tried. It's not like I want to quit writing and tend bar all the time, I just want to sit in my booth or my office and write. Once the book is finished, I want to try to do some things to encourage more writers to come back to the place. Every time I mention that to Gina though she gets more upset that I have plans that don't include immediately starting the next Nikki Heat book."

"When are you going to start that one?"

"Soon. I usually get an idea and let it run though my head for a while before I start writing. I already have a rough idea for the next several books even but I need to think about them more before I decide which story I want to do." He fell silent for a minute before he continued. "It probably didn't help that I bought the bar and didn't mention it to her for a couple of days."

"You said she doesn't care about that."

"She probably doesn't but she made a comment about me spending that much money without discussing it with her first. I reminded her that we were no longer married and that I didn't have to discuss my finances with her. That probably wasn't the best thing to say."

"You think?" she said sarcastically causing him to smile, which was her intention.

"Dad," Alexis' voice once again interrupted them.

"Yes, pumpkin," he said hoping his voice didn't betray his mild irritation.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he said.

"Which dress do you think I should wear tonight?"

"Where are you going?" he asked, braving a look back at Kate who was smiling at him.

"That Italian place we talked about the other day, I can't remember the name. Can I show you my two choices?"

"Okay. Give me a minute and I'll be out." He stood up and took his shirt off.

"What are you doing?" Kate whispered as he put on his robe then took off his pants.

"She thinks I'm taking a bath, I can't very well show up at the door in my clothes. She might notice that. She's smart like that."

"True," she smiled. "Come here."

"What?" he asked before she surprised him by scooping up two handfuls of bubbles and dumped them on his head before trailing one hand partially down the open front of the robe. He squinted at her knowing that he was going to have to do something equally rotten to her in a few minutes. He grabbed a towel and tried to get the bubbles out of his eyes before he opened the door.

"Good grief, Dad. How much of the bubble bath did you use?"

"I don't know," he said not looking at her.

"You used the jets again too, didn't you?" He knew better than to try to fib so he smiled his little boy smile and nodded at her. "You are such a child. Which one do you think would be better? I know you went there with Gina so you know the atmosphere there better."

"Either the blue or the green would be okay. It's pretty fancy but they are rather laid back about it. There were people there dressed in suits and other in jeans."

"Okay. Thanks, Dad. I'll see you tonight after dinner. Enjoy the rest of your bath but no more bubbles," she said sternly.

"Yes, dear," he promised as he closed the door and again locked it. He turned back and saw Kate smiling at him

"I'm surprised you didn't suggest that you join me and have me hide under the bubbles."

He swallowed hard as he leaned down and reached for his pants and pulled them on before he responded; glad she wasn't able to see his face. "The bathroom door was locked." Once the robe was back on the hook and he was again dressed, he sat back down beside the tub.

"I'm sorry you and Gina are fighting. It's never fun when that happens," she spoke.

"Are you fighting with Josh too?" he asked.

"When I get to see him. Our schedules are crazy enough and he has been working extra shifts lately."

"Is that why you come to me instead of him? Because he's busy?" he asked hoping that he didn't sound hurt. He was hoping she came to him for more reasons than she just didn't have anyone else to go to.

"No."

"Then why?"

"I trust you," she said simply.

"You don't trust him but I assume you are sleeping with him?" he asked as he turned to look at her.

"I trust him," she paused. "Just not with that."

"Is that good?"

"No, I'm sure it isn't but Josh is the kind of guy who likes to fix everything."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I'm not broken. He would try to convince me to go to a therapist or something to put this all behind me."

"Would that be a bad idea?" he had wanted to suggest that she consider seeing someone with more experience than him for a while.

"I need to figure this out on my own. You respect that. I trust you to not try to fix me."

"I do want you to get past this," he said hurt that she would think otherwise. She raised her hand, flicked off the bubbles and again reached for his shoulder. He took her hand immediately, glad to finally have some physical contact again.

"I know. The difference is that you are giving me the control that I need to fix me myself."

"And you feel that if you can't take control over fixing you, then you won't have that control again, right?"

"Exactly. You understand that. And me. Josh doesn't." She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. "Now, hand me a towel and get out of here, Castle."

He stood up and handed her a towel before he walked to the door. He stopped with his hand on the knob, not looking back at her. "You realize you've only called me Rick or Castle today?"

AN: Yeah, I know, it's probably OOC for Kate to take him up on the offer of the bath tub but I figure why not. She's had a tough day and he is a friend so why not?

Please review, not only do I write faster, but I feel it makes me think more and therefore I try to write better.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Notes: This part and the next part get a little more intense. Still no smut though. These chapters are most definately T rated and some people may think M rated. I personally don't think it is anything more than what is shown in The Mistress Always Spanks Twice so I am going to stick with the T rating. This is by far the longest chapter so far. Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 8

"Beckett, body dropped. Looks like a freaky one," Esposito said.

"Let's go, guys," she picked up her piece and badge. "Castle, you coming?" He jumped up and pulled on his jacket before following her. He had been rather quiet lately and she was wondering how he was handling his break up with Gina. She also wondered if he was going to tell her. She had broken her promise to herself and started checking Page 6 of the paper and some of the Castle fan sites to see if there were any stories about it but so far she hadn't seen anything. Maybe he just wanted to try to get over it some before he let that news hit the media.

"One Melissa Rice, 22, was found this morning by her sister, Mandy. Stabbed to death," Esposito explained once they made it to the apartment.

"How is that freaky?" Castle asked as they walked into the apartment.

"Remind you of anything?" he asked as he pointed out the crime scene.

The young college student was tied to her bed with leather cuffs, gagged reminding them of their one case. It differed though in that it appeared that she was also whipped before she was stabbed. Castle took a small step closer to Beckett, knowing that this did indeed look familiar, but only to her. He knew that Esposito was referring to the case where the dominatrix was murdered and covered in caramel sauce. Castle didn't say anything, he just lightly touched her arm when Esposito had turned away. She avoided his eyes, nodded slightly before she swallowed and went to work.

"I'm going downstairs to check on any security or anything. Ryan is interviewing neighbors. The vic's sister, Mandy, is in the living room."

"Thanks, Esposito," Beckett said as she went to talk to her.

"Ms. Rice. My name is Detective Beckett, this is Rick Castle. We have some questions for you about your sister."

"Okay," she said her voice shaky.

"Do you live here with your sister?"

"Yes. I spent the night over at a friend's house because Mel said she wanted to have a nice romantic evening with her boyfriend."

"Do you know his name?" Beckett asked.

"I can't remember. She met him at school, we are both students in the English department at NYU."

"You never met the boyfriend but she was having romantic evenings alone with him?" Castle asked.

"She only mentioned it once. I just don't remember right now. I thought that was a little weird but she was crazy in love with him and she said he wasn't ready to meet any of her family yet," Mandy said causing Beckett's eyebrow to shoot up.

"Did your sister ever participate in sex games like bondage?"

"No," she said immediately. "Neither of us does anything weird like that. That's why this is so crazy."

"Do you think she would do something like this to please her boyfriend?" Castle asked gently.

"She might," Mandy sighed as her voice broke. "She was crazy over him."

"I am sorry for your loss," Beckett said as she and Castle turned and walked back to the crime scene.

"Are you okay, Beckett?"

"Yeah, this just brings back memories," she said softly as Ryan walked in.

"I talked to the neighbors." He glanced around making sure that Mandy was out of earshot. "The ones in apartment 4B next door said they heard yelling last night around 11:30 but then it was muffled. There was still noise then it stopped about 20 minutes later."

"But they never called the cops?" Castle just shook his head as Ryan shrugged at the indifference of New Yorkers.

"Did the neighbors see any one?" Beckett asked, ignoring Castle for the moment.

"Not the ones I spoke with but I will be talking with more later. Esposito is checking with building security to see if there are any tapes."

"Nada on the security tapes," Esposito said as he walked in. "There might be some footage from cameras outside. We'll check on the way back to the 12th."

"Ms. Rice, again I am sorry for your loss," Beckett said once they finished up everything in the other room. "Can you go back to your friend's place? You probably shouldn't be alone right now. If there is anything you think of please feel free to give me a call."

"Thank you, detective."

Several hours later, the detectives were all looking through some video footage. So far there was nothing of interest but they had to look at everything.

"You are awfully quiet, Castle," Ryan said breaking the silence.

"Thinking about a friend," he said glad when Kate's phone rang so he wouldn't have to explain his comment.

"It's Lanie, she wants to show us something," she said to Castle. "You guys let me know if you find anything."

"We have one more tape to view after this one. If we don't find anything there then we're still at square one," Esposito said.

"What do you have for us Lanie?" Beckett asked after arriving downstairs.

"We have some fingerprints that do not belong to the victim on the cuffs and gag. They are most likely the killers. I am running them now. Also, I put the time of death approximately midnight," Lanie said.

"Approximately when the screaming stopped," Castle said.

"Signs of sexual activity?" Beckett asked.

"Bruising around the vagina suggests rape…"

"Or rough consensual sex," Kate finished.

"How can that be consensual?" he asked.

"Asks the man who is always joking about safe words," Lanie smiled at Castle.

"I might joke about them but I could never hurt a woman like that."

"I know, Castle," Lanie said upset that she joked about it now. He nodded to her then turned to leave. As he crossed in front of Kate, she reached out and lightly touched his hand. He paused for a split second before he continued out of the morgue.

"What's up with Castle? I didn't mean to upset him. This case seems to be hitting him pretty hard," Lanie asked.

"I'm not sure. He told Ryan he was thinking about a friend." She knew that Esposito had overheard and that he would tell Lanie.

"Beckett," Kate said into her phone as she waved goodbye to Lanie and walked out into the hall to meet Castle. He watched her as she spoke on the phone when suddenly she went ghost white. She quietly thanked the person on the other end of the line before she hung up. Her eyes met his and he was shocked to see the pain in her eyes.

"Is your dad okay?"

"What? No, that was Mandy Rice. She remembered the boyfriend's name was Edward and she thought he might be a professor."

"Why does that make you go deathly pale?" he asked as he held on to one arm in case she passed out.

"Because…" she stopped and took some deep breathes.

"Because Edward was the name of the guy you knew in college, wasn't it? He's the guy who hurt you."

"Yes. Edward wanted to be a professor." Before she could say anything else, she was interrupted by her phone again. "Beckett. We'll be right up."

"What is it, Beckett?" He was worried because she was still very pale.

"The boys got a hit on the security tapes outside the building. They are bringing in someone right now. A professor by the name of Edward Suggs," she said as the elevator doors closed on them.

"Is there a camera here in the elevator?"

"What? No."

"Good," he said as he quickly pulled her into his arms. She was tempted to pull back but she knew that he was just offering her a shoulder and his hug felt so comforting right then. She stayed in his arms a lot longer than he thought she would, she only pulled back when they felt the elevator slow. By the time the doors were open, no one would have known that they had embraced. She sent a text to Ryan letting him know that she needed to talk to him before they took the suspect into the interrogation room. He responded later saying that they would be there in about five minutes.

Kate and Rick went into the break room, just in time to watch as Esposito and Ryan escorted the suspect past them and to the interrogation room. Rick noticed that Suggs was a nice enough looking guy, tall, glasses, dark curly hair. He certainly didn't look like someone who would take a whip to a woman. Kate shuddered a bit and Rick wished that he could hold her again but he knew that he had to wait.

"Suggs is in the interrogation room," Esposito advised her when they found her in the break room.

"What did you have for us?" Ryan asked.

"Mandy Rice called and said she remembered the guy's name. Edward and he might be a professor."

"Sounds like our guy. You want to lead the charge," Esposito asked.

"No. Castle and I will be in the observation room."

"You don't want to question him?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, you had fun with the SAM from that one case," Esposito said.

"He was a sub, this guy isn't. He's not going to answer any questions that a woman asks him."

"Good point. Castle, want to come in with us? Three against one might make him back down easier," Ryan asked.

"I think I'll just watch with Beckett." He opened the door to observation room and held it for her to enter.

"Are you okay, Kate?" he asked as soon as the door was shut.

"I'm fine, Rick."

"There is something more than just him not answering questions from a woman, isn't there?"

"I haven't seen him in years but I know he would recognize me. I don't want to ruin the case like that."

He could also tell that she didn't want the guys to find out about her past this way. They watched for a while both of them getting more upset the more Suggs talked. He kept implying that Melissa asked for it.

"How did she ask for it?" Esposito asked.

"She never said her safe word," Suggs smirked.

"How could she with a gag in her mouth?" Ryan asked.

"Besides, she seemed to have been screaming for a good 10 minutes before you gagged her. Sure she didn't say it then?" Esposito asked.

"She never said it. Just because I dominated her doesn't mean that I killed her."

"So do you dominate often like this?"

"Yes. Bondage yes, whipping yes, killing, never."

"How long have you been doing this sort of thing?"

"15 years or so. I started in college. You would be amazed at what dumb co-eds will do when they think their grade is on the line." Castle was about ready to walk out of the observation room until Kate grabbed his hand and spoke up.

"I need you not to go in there. I need you here, Alex," her voice dropped to a bare whisper when she said his name. "Please, Rick."

"So 15 years of whipping young girls," Esposito asked in the interrogation room. "I bet the thrill of that goes away and you have to do just a little bit more each time."

"You wouldn't know anything about the thrill," Suggs said as the door to the room opened revealing Captain Montgomery. He passed Ryan a folder then left the room to join Castle and Beckett in the observation room.

"This guy is some piece of work," Montgomery said as he walked into the observation room. Castle dropped her hand but she held on just a second longer. They turned their attention back to the two-way mirror.

"We got fingerprints back. Yours are all over the cuffs and gag," Ryan said.

"I told you I was her Dom. They were my cuffs, I put them on her. It doesn't mean I killed her, I just tied her up."

"Remind me again what time you left," Esposito asked starting a quick round of questions.

"About eleven."

"Was she still alive when you left?"

"Of course."

"Was she alone?"

"Yes."

"You left her screaming, gagged and bound. And you didn't see a problem with that?"

"No, she liked that sort of thing."

"Her sister said she wasn't into that sort of thing so how could she have liked it?"

"She did," he smirked again.

"So Ryan we might not have enough for murder one but we can definitely charge him as an accessory before the fact."

"My thought exactly, bro. He ties her up and leaves her venerable then someone comes in and kills her."

"Funny thing though. No one other than you and the victim were caught on surveillance video after ten."

"What video?" he asked suddenly not as confident as he was before.

"The surveillance camera from across the street. It shows you and the victim entering her building at ten. Then you came out just after midnight."

"So I told you I was there," he seemed more confident again. "We had a scene last night, it was over and I left. End of story."

Esposito looked down at his phone that had beeped and showed it to Ryan.

"Okay," said Ryan suddenly surprising Kate. "We need you to stay here for just a bit while we straighten out some details and then we'll take you home."

The detectives stood up and walked out of the room into the observation room.

"Unis just sent me a text. They found bloody clothes that match the clothes he was wearing in the video."

"He'll claim it was just from the whipping," Castle said

"Not that much it wasn't. Unis also found a bloody knife that may be the murder weapon. They sent it on to forensics."

"This seems to be a lock as long as the blood matches up," Esposito said.

They all walked back to their desks and were list in thought while waiting for those results. Castle was fiddling with his phone as usual but Beckett was unable to concentrate on anything. Thirty minutes later, Esposito got another phone call.

"We got him," Esposito said excited that everything worked out.

"Why don't you boys give him the news, I'll tell the captain and start on the paperwork," Beckett suggested.

"You sure?" he asked as she nodded. The boys walked back into the interrogation room.

"Want to go get something from Remy's? My treat. I'll get you a strawberry shake," he asked as soon as she was finished telling the captain.

"Okay."

"I'll tell Montgomery that I am getting burgers all around. Grab your coat, I'll meet you at the elevator."

Moments later they were in the elevator. Rick could see her relax as soon as the doors closed. She seemed really worried that Suggs was going to see her.

"Sorry if I was a bit demanding back there. I figured that you would want to leave and be as far away from Suggs as possible."

"Thank you, Castle."

"No problem, Beckett."

Sitting in the break room a while later eating burgers Castle asked to the table in general what their plans for the weekend was. They all watched amused as Lanie and Esposito were still trying to hide the fact they were dating.

"I'm probably just going to spend a nice quiet weekend at home. How about you, Kate?" asked Lanie.

"Not much. I might just go visit dad."

"How about you Castle? Going to do some writing?" asked Montgomery.

"Probably. I actually have the loft to myself for most of the weekend. Mother is off doing something I choose not to hear about and Alexis is spending the weekend with her friend."

"Something you choose not to heat about?" Ryan asked with a smile.

"Trust me, with my mother it's by far better not to ask what she is doing, just when she might be back."

They all laughed.

Two hours later, Rick was at home waiting for Kate to show up. He hadn't asked her to come over but he hoped that she would. He had lit a fire and a few candles and even had some soft music playing. He put the green shirt in the downstairs bathroom and the massage oil was sitting on the mantle to warm up a bit.

Finally, the doorbell rang. He opened it to reveal Kate.

"Can you hold me?" she asked softly before he even let her in the door.

He took her hand and pulled her into his arms shutting the door behind her. They stood there for a few minutes before he pulled back slightly to pull off her jacket. He tossed it over the back of the nearest chair before he swept her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as he walked to the couch before sitting down still holding her on his lap.

"I was so worried about you today, Kate."

"He wasn't any where near me. He couldn't hurt me, Rick.

"But he did at one time. He left scars on you, Kate," he stopped speaking for fear that his voice would break. Neither realized that they both slipped from the scene, or in fact never really started it. They just sat there for a while before either one spoke again.

"Alex," she finally said bringing him back into the scene. "Do you understand now why I couldn't call you Edgar?"

"Too close to Edward."

"Tell me what he did to you."

"Alex," she hesitated.

"Tell me, Katherine."

"We dated for a couple of weeks when he got me into his bed. I thought I was in love, but I was stupid. Things were okay from what I could tell, he was my first serious relationship. I didn't know any better. He mentioned that his class was reading _The Story of O_ and said I should try tying him up. He said I might gain some confidence and be better at sex in general."

"So you tried it?" he asked after she paused.

"Yes, but I didn't like it. I really didn't want to do it in the first place and other than him telling me some about the lifestyle, there wasn't any easing into things. The one time he was asking for an awful lot more than I thought though. He wanted me to actually tie him up and so all sorts of things to him. I won't go into detail about what all happened that time, he certainly seemed disappointed because he kept berating me at how badly I did. I think one of the nicer things he said was "What kind of feminist are you if you can't even control a man who wants it?"

"He's an ass."

"I should have left him then but I didn't. The next Thursday-"

"Thursday?" he interrupted.

"Yeah we only met on Thursdays. I found out later that was so he could meet with other students in his office for 'help' with their grades." She took a deep breath to try to calm down again. "He said that since I did so poorly, he would show me how to do it. I didn't really want to be tied up but he said that since I tied him up, it was only fair for him to do it to me too."

"So you let him."

"I thought he was just going to tickle me with the feather he had and stuff like that but he pulled out a blindfold. I wasn't sure about that but he asked me if I trusted him. I told him I did. He did tickle me for a bit then he pulled out a ridding crop he had hidden. I didn't scream. I think that upset him because he started hitting harder and harder. He didn't even stop when he drew blood."

Rick just held on tightly to her, not knowing what to say. He suspected that she was lost in her memories; he just wanted her to know that he was there for her.

"I guess he got tired or something because he finally stopped. He untied my left hand then he walked out."

"Why did he only untie one hand?"

"He didn't want me to follow him right away. It took me a while to get out and by that time he was gone."

"Did he rape you?" he asked softly as he stroked her hair.

"No," she said as he released a deep breath. "I don't know why either but I am glad that he didn't. I've never trusted anyone to have that much power over me again."

Kate placed her hand over his heart, just as she had done the last time she told him that she trusted him. Once again, he laced his fingers with hers.

"I do trust you, Rick Castle."

* * *

_Please forgive the case stuff if it wasn't that great. I haven't written much case stuff yet and I know I need to work on it. Thanks for all the reviews and alerts and all._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After she told him again that she trusted him, he simply held her for a while. He thought about what to do next and realized that just reliving the mental part of what Suggs had done to her was probably not enough to help her. Finally coming to a decision, he helped her stand and, wordlessly led her to the kitchen where he got a glass of ice water. Then he led her to the downstairs bathroom where he pointed out what they considered her shirt.

"Just grab it," he said surprising her. Once she picked up the shirt, he led her upstairs and into his bedroom. She somewhat nervously went into the bathroom to change as Rick rummaged through his closet for a minute and placed a few items on the floor on his side of the bed.

"Lie down, Katherine," he said to her when she came out from the bathroom.

She did as he told but flinched a bit when he handed her a blindfold. She knew what he planned then and part of her was truly terrified. She took a shaky breath and pulled it on. Even under the blindfold, he could see her cringe as he reached for her hand and wrapped a tie around it. He pulled her arm away from her body and stretched it to the bedpost before walking to the foot of the bed and repeating the process with her foot. Rick walked around the bed to her other side and after tying her foot he wrapped the last tie around her wrist.

"What is your safe word, Katherine?" he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Sharks," she said as he pulled her hand to the bedpost.

He kneeled on the bed beside her and slowly unbuttoned the shirt. He lightly ran one hand all the way down her spine as he reached for something with his other hand. Rick let the fringe of his silk scarf trail along her back causing her to shiver. He brushed the shivers away with his hand. Soon he developed a rhythm of the scarf then his hand but he didn't let her figure out where he was going to touch her and when. He could see her muscles tensing up so he stopped or changed his direction keeping her guessing.

Rick knew what he needed to do next but he wanted to put it off as long as he could. He reached for his ice water on his nightstand and after drinking some he reached in and grabbed a piece of ice. He trailed the ice down her spine, following the same path that he had made with the scarf. His hand was again there to brush away the shivers, more pronounced this time. Her skin melted the ice quickly and he was soon wiping his hand dry on his jeans. He knew that he couldn't put off the inevitable any longer.

Rick took a deep breath and simply watched her for a moment before he unbuckled his leather belt. He knew that she could hear him pulling it off and once he trailed one end of the belt along her spine he was not surprised to see her tense up completely. He stretched over her and reached out to keep her wrists in place when she tried to pull her arms back to her sides. She eased up a bit after a whispered demand of trust. Wrapping the buckle end of the belt tightly around his arm so it wouldn't hurt her, he eased the other end of the leather strap across her back. He leaned down again to make sure that he could hear if she even whispered her safe word. She was breathing heavily but was otherwise silent. Her breath caught as he lightly flicked the end of the belt along one of her scars. Rick waited until she released that breath, expecting to hear her safe word on her lips.

Once again, she surprised Rick with her silence. He continued flicking the belt over her scars, making sure to be very light in his touch. He was sure that she would have called an end to this by now so he was confused with what to do next. Rick knew that there was no way that he was going to actually hit her with his belt. He finished with the scars on her back when he looked at her face and saw the tears seeping from beneath the blindfold. He quickly flung the belt off his arm as he reached for the blindfold with the other hand. Her teary green eyes met his worried blue ones.

"Thank you," she whispered. She was momentarily confused as he pulled her easily into his arms and held her tight. That was when she realized that while he had tied her wrists and ankles, he hadn't actually tied them to the bed. She looked into his eyes and gently laying her hand against his cheek she again thanked him.

"I never meant to hurt you," he said upset that he caused her tears.

"I told you before I can take anything physical and you were very gentle," she assured him. "You didn't hurt me, not today."

"Not today? I am still sorry for messing with your mom's case," he said not knowing what else she might be referring to.

"It wasn't that," she whispered.

"What was it?" he asked thoroughly confused now.

"You took Gina to the Hamptons."

"Oh, Kate. I am so sorry. I didn't know," he said as he stroked her hair not even trying to stop the tears.

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms for a while only moving after she shivered. He tucked the still unbuttoned shirt around her then pulled the blanket from the foot of his bed to cover them both. Soon they were both asleep.

Rick woke up with his arms around Kate and at first wasn't sure why, he thought he was dreaming, again. He ran his thumb across her tear stained cheeks before he kissed her forehead, waking her up.

"Good morning, Kate," he said softly.

"Morning, Castle," she replied a bit embarrassed at waking up in his arms.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes. Thank you." Rick knew the 'thank you' was more about last night than about his question. She looked closely at him, then brushing back one unruly lock of hair off his forehead, she asked, "How far were you going to go last night?"

"No more than I did," he said as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I was afraid to even touch you with the belt. If I hadn't seen your tears, I would have said my safe word."

"The dom isn't supposed to use a safe word," she said smiling.

"I knew that you needed more last night that just a massage but I wasn't going to hurt you. There was no way I would." He didn't mention her confession on how taking Gina with him last summer had hurt her. He wanted to think about that later, after Kate had left.

"I almost said it when you took your belt off. I thought you were him at first, until you told me to trust you. I knew that I would be safe."

"Then why were you crying?"

"Because I knew it was over."

"You had to have been crying a while before I noticed, the blindfold was more than damp," he said still upset with himself for not noticing her tears right away.

"No, not the scene. I don't know how to explain it. All I know is that I trust you Rick. I know you wouldn't hurt me. Not like that." She relaxed in his arms for another moment before she spoke again. "I probably need to get going."

She eased out of the bed and headed to the bathroom to change. Rick quickly changed out of his jeans and into his lounge pants. He explained when she came back fully dressed.

"I'm not sure if Alexis or Mother are here or not. I didn't hear either of them come in last night and they weren't supposed to be here but I want to check first."

He left her in the room and was back moments later to announce that they were alone.

"Would you like some breakfast before you leave?"

"Just some coffee. I told Dad I would come and visit him today," she said as she accepted the mug. "He should be getting out of the rehab hospital soon and they might even let him out today."

"That's great news. Let me know if you need any help with anything."

"I think I got everything set up. I moved around stuff in the study and put a bed in there for him so he doesn't have to worry about the steps yet. He's been itching to get back home."

"I don't blame him. It's been a long recovery."

"Thanks again, Castle." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "See you on Monday."

Rick watched as she left before he headed over to his office and turned on his computer. Deciding that Nikki Heat could wait a few days, he opened the file of the other thing he had been working on. He knew that he would never publish it but he thought that he might give a copy of it to Kate when he was finished.

* * *

Sorry this is a shorter chapter but I should have more for you tomorrow. I will also start posting another story very soon that is nearly finished.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Notes: This takes place a couple of days after Knockdown.

* * *

Chapter 10

Rick was putting the finishing touches on the final chapter of Heat Rises when the doorbell rang. Alexis knew that he was immersed in his story so she went to the door and opened it to reveal her dad's partner, Kate.

"Hi, Kate. How are you doing?"

"Okay, and you?"

"Doing fine. How does your dad like being back at home?"

"He loves it. But he is already getting a bit stir crazy. He wants to be able to be back at full speed and doing everything that he hasn't been able to."

"Good luck with that. I don't know about your dad," Alexis' voice dropped to a whisper. "But when my dad is sick he is a bear to deal with."

"Most men are like that," Kate whispered back. "How's his hand doing?"

"Still a bit sore but he'll live. I finally convinced him to stop using the dictation on his computer and to try typing again, so now it's at least quiet around here."

"Is my darling daughter picking on me?" his voice surprising them as he walked into the room and gave his daughter a bear hug from behind. "Hey, Beckett. Ganging up against me with my daughter?"

"Just talking to her about fathers," Kate said.

"And how is yours doing?"

"Driving me crazy," she said with a smile.

"Just like mine is," Alexis interjected.

"Hey! Don't you have some homework to do or something?"

"Nope already finished it all," she smiled.

"I still don't understand how I can have a child who gets things done before their deadline."

"Someone has to Dad. I'm going to run over to my friend's house. I'll be back for dinner. Would you like to join us, Kate?"

"Maybe."

"Good. See you later," she said before she grabbed her jacket and left the loft.

Alexis left them standing there both a little unsure what was happening. Rick thought that after the Suggs case, Alexander wouldn't be seeing Katherine again but she had the same look on her face tonight as she had before.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I just needed a break from my mom's case. I've been running everything through my mind again and again. I know there has to be something that I am missing."

"Did you bring your files with you? We can go over it together," he suggested as he led the way to the couch. "I have plenty of time. I just finished the last chapter as you and my daughter were picking on me."

"Oh, it wasn't just you, it was men in general," she assured him earning her the trademark Castle squinty glare. "I have a bunch of guys picking on me lately."

"So how many men are in your life for you to be picking on?"

"One less today than yesterday," she said without meaning to.

"What?"

"Josh called from Africa, he met someone there."

"He broke it off over the phone?" Rick asked shocked.

"Yeah. I was probably going to end it when he came back but he just beat me to it."

"He's stupid," Rick said as Kate pulled out the files.

They sat on the couch next to each other not touching and going over all the details of the case for a couple of hours. They both focused on the case and not the fact that they were sitting so close. Usually, neither would have even noticed it but since that kiss of theirs the other night, they were both a little unsure of where they stood. Also, since they were both single now, they were uncertain so they both tried to ignore the tension. Kate took a closer look at one paper and called it to his attention. They turned to look at each other suddenly aware of how close they were their faces just inches from each other.

Rick suddenly remembered the time at when this happened before and he was first overwhelmed by the scent of cherries. He had wanted to kiss her then but Ryan and Esposito interrupted them. Rick finally had the chance to kiss her a few nights ago and now he wanted nothing more than to kiss her again. The first kiss was a ruse, he knew that but he still had enjoyed it. He was blown away though when she had kissed him again. And what a kiss it was. He could still taste her on his lips and feel her in his arms. He wanted to feel Kate in his arms again. He had held her a lot lately but that was holding Katherine, that kiss was from Kate and he knew that there was a difference.

Kate looked into his eyes and wondered if he was thinking about that one time when he told her she smelled like cherries. She had always wondered if he would have kissed her if they weren't interrupted and how she would have reacted if he had. She thought it would have been a mistake then. She knew that things were different between them since he had actually kissed her. And since she kissed him back. She knew that his kiss was just to distract the lookout but she couldn't believe that he would put that much feeling into a pretend kiss. And he put even more into the second one when she kissed him back.

Kate's eyes dropped to his lips as he nervously licked them, and her breath caught as he moved closer. She knew that he was going to kiss her again and she knew that this time, it wasn't a mistake, it wasn't a hoax. Her eyes fluttered closed as she could feel his breath on her face.

"Apples," he said softly.

"What?" she asked confused as her eyes met his.

"I want to, Kate. So bad," he lightly touched her cheek. "But I can't. You just broke up with Josh. I can't betray your trust in me by pushing you. I can't hurt you again."

He pulled away from her and stood up, needing to put some more distance between them. Rick was shocked with himself for stopping what he knew would be an amazing kiss. He wanted her but part of him knew that she wasn't ready for anything yet. He didn't want just a night with Kate, he wanted a lot longer and he knew that now was not the time to start anything.

She turned away in embarrassment and pain. He said he didn't want to hurt her, but didn't he realize that he already had? She gathered up all the files, not bothering to put them in any sort of order. She knew that she wouldn't be able to see them through the tears that had yet to fall. Kate picked up the last of the files when the door opened and Alexis walked back in.

"So Dad, what's for dinner?" she asked before she noticed the tension in the room. "Everything okay?"

"Of course, pumpkin," he said glad that his voice sounded normal.

"I, um. I can't stay for dinner Alexis," Kate said her forehead creasing. "I need to get back to my dad."

"Are you sure?" the young girl asked wondering what was happening.

"Yeah. I'll see you later," she said as she slipped out of the loft without looking at Castle again.

"Dad, what happened?" Alexis asked.

"Nothing, pumpkin. Nothing happened. What would you like me to fix for dinner?" he asked trying to sound happier than he felt.

"How about I fix you breakfast for dinner, Dad?" she asked knowing that was usually something that always cheered him up.

"Okay. I'm going to go do some writing," he dropped a kiss on his daughter's head before he walked back to his study leaving her to think about what had happened between her father and Kate.

Kate went to work early the next morning. She hadn't slept well so at five she finally figured that there was no point in tossing and turning for another hour. She was standing in the break room drinking a plain coffee and glaring at the fancy coffee machine.

"Coffee machine broken?" asked Captain Montgomery asked as he walked in.

"No, sir," she said shaking her head. "I was thinking of something else."

He looked at her closely as he waited for his coffee to brew. When he had taken his first sip, he turned back to one of his brightest detectives.

"You need to not let your mom's case pull you in again. Not like before."

"I know, Roy. I'm trying not to." She took a deep breath before she continued, "Sir, I've been thinking about taking some time off."

"That's a good idea, Beckett. You've had some crazy cases lately. Go spend some time with your dad. Finish up what you can today and take the rest of this week and next week too."

"I didn't mean that much time, sir."

"Why don't you take the time you've earned instead of making me force you to take it? When was the last time you took off anyway? After your apartment blew up? You need a vacation."

"Okay," she gave in. She smiled at him and then went to her desk to work on the stack of files that had been neglected while she had been focused again on her mother's case.

Thirty minutes later, the rest of her team showed up. She told them that she was taking time off to spend with her dad. They were both glad and they both know that she needed it.

"Where are you going?" asked Ryan.

"Probably just going to stay at Dad's place, nothing special."

"Castle coming in today?" Esposito asked when he noticed his empty chair.

"Don't think so," she said looking back at her paperwork. The guys looked at each other not sure what was happening.

The guys didn't have much time to wonder as they were called to a scene shortly after. Kate stayed to finish up the now smaller mountain of papers that was no longer threatening on spilling over. They were back shortly after noon with take out for her. She dug into the food and listened to them about their case. It was one those "Jack shot Jill over Bill" kind of cases that Esposito favored so she wasn't worried that she was leaving them with a Beckett flavored freaky case.

She was just tossing her trash ready to get back to work when a set of keys was dropped on her desk. She looked up to see Castle standing there. He looked like he hadn't slept much last night either.

"What are the keys for?" she asked.

"My place in the Hamptons. Rumor mill has it that you are taking a much needed vacation." He smiled a bit as she glared over at the guys who suddenly looked much more interested in their paperwork. "My place is empty so you might as well enjoy it. I can have my friend air it out and stock the fridge if you like."

"Dad has always loved the beach even in the winter," she mentioned.

"It's nice and quiet this time of year too, not too many people go to the beach in January."

"Okay. Thank you." He looked a bit surprised when she accepted it so readily.

"I'll send the directions to your phone. When are you taking off?"

"I'm leaving work at the end of the day. I'll tell Dad and after I convince him, we'll probably leave tomorrow afternoon."

"I'll send you a picture that you can show your dad with the directions."

"That will be great. Thanks, Castle."

"Not a problem. I need to get back to some writing," he said to Kate before turning to the guys. "Talk to you all later."

"I guess he won't be back until Beckett comes back," Esposito said once Castle was gone.

"I wonder if he will be back after that even," Ryan said looking at the expression on Beckett's face as she watched the elevator close on Castle.

* * *

AN: Don't worry Part 11 will be posted here real soon. Please review. Thanks!


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Notes: Once again thanks for all the reviews. There is one more part after this one, at least for the T rated story. I am going to post a separate story for the M rated part that I am currently finishing up. That way, if you don't like the naughty bits you don't have to read them.

* * *

Chapter 11

It didn't take much convincing on Kate's part to get her dad to agree to the beach trip to the Hampton's. He always liked going to the beach but he preferred it when it was not terribly busy. The temperatures that the weather people were calling for assured that there wouldn't be too many people there. They drove through a few patches of flurries along the way but nothing serious.

Once they got to the beach house, they took their bags in and checked the fridge. They headed back out to the grocery store and were soon unloading snacks and other groceries. As they were stocking shelves, her dad gave her the good news that his doctor had given him a clean bill of health the previous day and that he could go back to work with no restrictions the following week.

To celebrate, Kate insisted on taking her dad out to dinner that night. Not sure where to go, she sent a text to Alexis and asked her. The young girl soon sent a text back and had already made reservations for them. When they got to the restaurant, Kate realized that there was no way that they would have been able to get in without Alexis' help. They had a great dinner and enjoyed talking about things other than his recovery.

Jim went up to bed as soon as they returned from dinner. He still got tired easier than usual these days but he was getting better. Kate was still a bit wired and didn't really want to go to bed yet. She also wasn't sure where she should sleep. Her father had taken what she assumed was the guest room and that left her to chose from Martha's, Alexis', or Rick's bedroom. She finally decided on Alexis' room because she had an ocean view. After she put her bag in the room, Kate walked around the house and saw the little touches that were probably Alexis' doing. She really didn't want to think of Gina decorating Rick's vacation home. Kate peeked into Rick's study and saw that it was definitely a man's room, much like his study in the city. She closed the door without entering though. His study was private, like his bedroom, and she didn't want to intrude on it.

Kate pulled out her files on her mom's case and after settling in on the couch, she started to review all the files. She didn't find anything new but since she didn't have access to the police files, she really didn't think there was lot that she would be able to do here. She just knew that she needed to try at least.

For three days, Kate and her dad had a great time except for one thing. She was able to avoid talking about what was really bothering her but her father knew that something big was on her mind. Monday morning, Kate got a phone call while she was out for a walk that surprised her.

"Alexis. Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure," the young girl said.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked as she turned back to the house ready to go back to the city if need be.

"Dad just doesn't seem like himself since you left. He seems really sad. I have to practically force him to eat. He's sleeping on the couch in his study after he stays up nearly all night writing."

"I'm sorry, Alexis. I don't know what's wrong," she said honestly. Kate knew that it had something to do with her but she still didn't know why he stopped that kiss. That was something that she hadn't figured out yet and it seems that neither has he.

"The worst thing though is that he won't let me read what he's written. He always lets me read everything. Did you two have a fight or something?"

"No, Alexis. We didn't." Kate wished it were that easy.

"Are you sure?"

"Nothing happened."

"That's what Dad says too when I can get him to talk but I wonder if that's actually what the problem is, the fact that nothing happened."

"Alexis, the thing with your dad is complicated."

"It doesn't have to be," she sounded frustrated as Kate felt. "I don't know why you guys don't just kiss and get it over with."

"We did," she whispered.

"You kissed and you say nothing happened?"

"We were undercover, we didn't mean it." Kate wasn't sure who she was trying to convince, Alexis or herself.

"You may not have, but Dad probably did."

"Alexis," Kate said not sure where this was going.

"Then you just don't feel for him the way he feels for you?" she asked.

"I don't know Alexis. He's never actually said how he feels. Not seriously, at least."

"He doesn't say it easily to anyone other than me. You remember how when he told Gram, she called you to let you know something was wrong."

"I thought he was supposed to be good with words," Kate said.

"He is, except for the ones that put his heart on the line," Alexis said truthfully.

Kate was silent for a few moments trying to figure out her thoughts. "You said he was writing. Maybe he is just so caught up in Nikki Heat he is forgetting to eat and such."

"That does happen to him but not for this long and he isn't writing Nikki Heat anyway. He finished that the other night. I don't know what he is working on now. He usually lets me read pretty much everything he writes."

"I don't know what to tell you Alexis. I wish I could help you but I really don't think I can."

"Okay, Kate. I'm sorry to call you while you are on vacation but I'm worried. I left for school this morning and he was asleep in the study again."

"Just keep taking care of him. Daughters sometimes have to do that for their fathers when they are too stubborn to do it for themselves."

"How is your dad doing?"

"He's doing really well. I just hope he doesn't push himself too much when he goes back to work next week."

"Speaking of overdoing it, don't worry about any snow or ice removal at the house. We have someone come and take care of that after any storms."

"Is there a forecast for snow and ice?"

"I take it you haven't been listening to the weather. There is a big storm coming across the country, it's hitting the Midwest tomorrow then the Northeast on Wednesday. You might be getting ice there tomorrow though."

"How much ice?" Kate asked.

"They aren't sure, it depends on when it changes over. You'll be fine at the house, there is a generator and all but if you are driving the roads could get bad."

"Maybe we better come back tonight just to be on the safe side."

"It's not supposed to turn over to ice until tomorrow afternoon so you can at least spend one more night there."

"I'll give you a call and let you know when we are leaving. Thanks for letting me know."

"Will you do me a favor?" Alexis asked nervously.

"Of course, I will."

"Dad usually only gets like this if he needs to work out some big feelings. He has to write them out instead of just think about them. I know you have some sort of feelings for him, can you try to figure them out?"

"Alexis."

"I love my dad Kate and I know you care about him but I have to ask that if you can't return his feelings, just tell him you aren't interested in him when you get back. This uncertainty is hurting him right now and I can't bear to see that."

Kate hung up the phone unsure what to do know. She sat down on the porch not even realizing the freezing temperature. Alexis had given her a lot to think about. She had a good point too; this not being honest with themselves was hurting them both.

"Katie, are you okay?" her father's concerned voice interrupted her troubled thoughts.

"I'm just thinking, Dad."

"Who was that on the phone?"

"Alexis."

"How is she?" he liked the young girl the several times that he had met her.

"She's worried about her dad."

"What's wrong?" Jim asked.

"She said he isn't eating or sleeping well, just writing," she said not sure how much she should share.

"Well, he is a writer."

"True. She also wanted to let us know about the weather that should be hitting tomorrow afternoon. Rain then ice and maybe even some snow on top of that."

"Oh, sounds like fun," he replied sarcastically. "I don't really want to deal with that here. I think I will go home tonight instead."

"I guess we should," she said slightly disappointed at needing to leave.

"I didn't say you were leaving, Katie. This is only Monday you don't need to be back to work for another week. You should stay. You probably need some time alone to think anyway. Especially after those last few cases of yours."

"I'll take you home, Dad. I don't mind."

"No, you need to take a vacation."

"What do you think I've been doing?"

"Taking care of me, that's not a vacation."

"I don't want you to have to drive home alone."

"I've been driving a lot longer than you, dear. I'll be fine," he said amused.

"I can come with you to make sure you are okay. I can just hang out in my apartment."

"I like your new place and all but really? You have a beach house in the Hamptons at your disposal and you want to leave? Stay, enjoy it. Do something for yourself that you haven't done in ages. Why don't _you_ do some writing?"

"Me?"

"I remember you used to write a lot in high school."

"Oh, I was so bad," she laughed.

"It doesn't matter if you were good or not. It matters if it helped you express your feelings. Maybe it will help you work through what has been on your mind."

"Dad," she said exasperated.

"I'm not going to ask you to talk or anything but you know you can talk to me if you need to."

"I know, Dad. This is just something that, um…"

"That I probably don't want to hear my little girl talking about?" he asked with the Beckett trademark raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, Dad," she said embarrassed.

"That's okay, Katie girl."

"Do you mind, Dad? This was supposed to be a vacation for the both of us."

"Katie, I had a great weekend with my daughter. That works for me."

"I love you, Dad. You take the car and I'll come up with some way to get back later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Dad. I'll be fine. Let's hit the grocery store before you leave so I can have enough of the essentials."

"Chocolate and coffee?"

"Exactly," she smiled at him.

They went to the store and headed in different directions. Kate was looking for her ice cream and Jim said he wanted to get some snacks for his trip back tonight. While he was in the store he called Martha to tell her that he was coming back that night. Jim had met Martha just once when she swung by at the hospital but he thought she might help him out in his little plan.

"Martha? Hi, Jim Beckett."

"Oh hello. Is everything okay at the beach?"

"Other than the incoming weather, it's okay. I am going to be heading back to the city tonight. Kate will be staying here for a few more days, if that is okay."

"Of course."

"She says that she needs to figure out a few things. I was thinking that if she had some company, other than me that is, that she might be able to figure things out faster."

"Are you suggesting that I send Richard out there? He won't go if he knows that she is still there."

"Just don't tell him she's staying."

"Send my son to the beach with your daughter when an ice storm is on the way? How devious. I love it. I'll come up with something and make sure he gets there tomorrow morning."

"Perfect. I need to run. It was nice talking with you again Martha."

"You too. You'll have to come over and have dinner sometime when you are in the city. We can always work on more sneaky plans for our children."

"So, Katie what are you planning on doing while you have this place to yourself?" Jim asked as they finished their lunch.

"I might try some writing after all. I was thinking about it when you were packing earlier. After all, this is a writer house."

"A writer who cares about you a lot," he said watching her expression closely. "You know you can do worse than Richard Castle, sweetie."

"Dad!"

"Do you love him?" he asked knowing that there will be a fight on his hands.

"Dad! Why are you asking me that?"

"Because you won't ask yourself that." He watched as his daughter sat back in her seat with a heavy sigh.

"I don't know."

"Do you trust him?" he questioned as he pulled his chair closer to hers and patted her hand.

"Yes," she said immediately.

"And you don't trust too many people. Maybe that should be a clue for you. If you really do trust him then you have nothing to worry about. I know with his reputation, it's not easy but I want you think of one thing. Can you do that?" She nodded. "Do you remember the guy you stood in line for over an hour to get his autograph?"

"Yes," she smiled at the memory.

"Is Castle the same guy now?" She shook her head. "Is he the same guy you met on that first case?"

"No. He's grown up."

"Because of you. I've seen how he looks at you when you aren't looking and I know that there is something more there that just wanting to get you in bed."

"Dad!"

"Tell me the truth, I know you thought he was handsome and all when you got your book signed but are you still attracted to him?"

"Yes. Even more," she whispered.

"Because you know him better now." Kate nodded.

"And he knows me, all of me, and it doesn't scare him away."

"So if he knows everything about you and he still wants to be with you, why fight it? Unless you don't trust him with your heart."

"I do trust him though," she insisted.

"Tell him that."

"I don't know how."

"Just show him."

"I tried that once, Dad, and he pushed me away. Several times actually."

"Tell me about it."

"Which time?" Her father crooked one eyebrow at her. "One time, I was going to tell him but his ex-wife showed up and they left for the summer together. The most recent was right after your accident."

"He knew that you probably weren't thinking clearly. It sounds like he wanted to give you some space and not push you. Sounds like an honorable man to me. One who is as much in love with you as you are with him."

"I just don't know what to do," she said sadly.

"I know, Katie. Just remember the Immutable Law of the Universe."

"Life never delivers anything we can't handle. Thanks Dad. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Call me when you get home so I don't worry."

"I will. Let me know if I need to come and get you this weekend."

He gave his daughter a hug and hoped that everything would work out well.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes: Well h ere is the last part of the T rated portion of the story. I will be posting the last chapter as a separate story so that this can keep the T rating. I want to thank all of you for the reviews and story alerts and such. I had a lot of fun writing this story. I'll be posting another one later today or first thing in the morning. Hope you enjoy the rest of this one. And I hope that this ties up any loose ends and questions that people had about the whole Katherine/Alexander thing.

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Chapter 12

Kate had spent part of the afternoon thinking about Rick and she soon realized that just sitting there was doing her no good. She went into Rick's study for the first time since the day they got there. She hadn't wanted to intrude on what was so obviously his personal space. The place reminded her of his study in the city but this looked more like the Rick she knew than the playboy author. Here there were lots of photos, most of them of Alexis. Kate did take note that there didn't seem to be any photos of Gina or Meredith in here. She knew that there were a couple of Alexis and her mother in the room she has been sleeping in but there weren't any in the rest of the house.

Kate smiled at the progression of photos of Alexis that was along one shelf. All the pictures seemed to be taken on her birthday and they only included Alexis and Rick. She picked up the one of them taken the day Alexis was born. The photo looked like it could be titled 'Falling in Love'. They both were looking at each other and both looked so sweet. She also noticed that Rick wasn't holding Alexis' hand like she first thought; he was holding her tiny pinky finger. Kate wondered if Alexis ever picked on her father about the fact that she literally had him wrapped around her little finger since the day she was born.

Kate took the photo over to the desk and sat it down near the phone. She reached into the desk for paper but found even more framed photos. They surprised her a bit when she flipped them over and saw several pictures that he must have taken from his cell phone. The first one was of Ryan and Esposito leaning over her desk while discussing a case. The next was Kate and Lanie talking but it was the last one that really caught her eye. It was her and Castle. He was standing just behind her and based on her eye roll in the photo he must have just said something crazy. It was his expression that shocked her though. It was almost the exact same expression as he had on his face when he was holding the newborn Alexis.

She put the photos beside each other and pulled out paper and a pen. She wanted to do some writing but she was not sure where she wanted to start. She finally decided to start with her Dad's accident. She surprised herself with how much she wrote when her phone interrupted her. It was her dad letting her know that he got home safely. Deciding to go ahead and grab something to eat, she put her pen down and wandered into the kitchen. While she was eating, she debated with herself on if she wanted to read what she had written now or wait until she finished. She looked at her dad's watch and decided to keep writing for the night at least. She could read it all in the morning after she got some sleep.

She again picked up her pen and started writing. She stayed up far later than she intended but when she went to bed she had finished most of what she wanted to write. She still didn't have an ending but that was something that she hadn't decided on yet anyway.

She took the picture of her and Rick up to her room and placing it on her nightstand she fell asleep thinking of that expression.

Kate woke up later than she normally did because of the dense cloud cover making it far darker than usual. At first, she jumped up thinking she was late but she laid back down remembering that she was on vacation. Her eyes fell on the photo of her and Rick and she smiled thinking about him. She knew that she still had a lot of thinking to do so she went ahead and got up to get her coffee started.

Once she had her coffee and a bagel, she retreated into the study again. She opened the blinds on the eastern facing window so she could keep an eye out on the weather. So far it was only raining but it should be changing over to ice sometime soon. She gathered up her papers that she wrote yesterday and settled on the leather sofa with a blanket and a cup of coffee to read it. She purposefully left the pen on the desk so she didn't edit anything. She wanted to read it one time through before she made any changes.

She got to the part when he offered to pay for her father's bills and she was again embarrassed about her reaction. She still couldn't believe that she practically offered herself to him. And he refused. That had hurt more than him leaving with Gina over the summer. She took a deep breath and continued reading. She remembered him saying now that when they kissed, really kissed, she wouldn't have gratitude in her eyes but passion, love or even lust. That had to be why he stopped that kiss. He must think that he was still just grateful to him.

She knew that she would always be grateful to him but she also knew that her feelings went far deeper than that. She kept reading and she could finally see what everyone else had been telling her for a while now. It was in the little details, the way she thought about him and tried to protect him at work. And how she implicitly trusted him. She was in love with Rick Castle.

Not Alexander. She had worried that the whole thing with Katherine and Alexander might make things a bit difficult but now she could see that she shouldn't have worried. Alexander was a small part of Rick; just as the unsure Katherine was a part of her. In reading her story, she noticed that after each time Katherine and Alexander had gotten together, they reverted back to Beckett and Castle or more precisely, Kate and Rick. She now recognized that even as Kate and Rick, they had ended their scenes with some sort of physical contact, a hug, a kiss or just a hand on an arm. She understood that even though she had told her father, Rick and herself that she trusted him, a part of her hadn't really believed it. Now she did.

She got up and went to the desk for the pen. She wrote one more paragraph at the end of her story before she looked out the window again. It was almost noon when Kate wrapped the blanket closer and stepped outside on the small porch. She saw the sun trying to peek from the clouds over the turbulent ocean. Pulling out her phone she took a picture of it, wishing that she had a better camera. She shivered as the clouds again hid the sun and walked back inside. Kate picked up her empty coffee cup and headed back to the kitchen for a refill when she realized that she wasn't alone.

"Rick?"

"Kate? What are you doing here?"

"You gave me the keys," she said.

"I know but I thought you went home last night," he said.

"We heard about the weather and Dad went home but he insisted that I stay for the week. Why are you here?" she asked wondering why he looked away from her.

"I wanted to check on the house, thought I would get away from the city for a bit," he said not meeting her eyes.

"Going to do some writing?"

"Probably," he said happy to be talking of something not as personal. "I should get the outline started for the next Nikki Heat book started."

"Already?"

"Yeah, I'll write out a quick outline and in the next couple of weeks I'll add to it. Once that's done, I'll start the actual writing."

"I thought you would be the type to just dive in and write. I never pegged you for a planner," she smiled.

"It helps to plan the mysteries otherwise I might forget that I didn't leave an important clue or the murderer at the end of the book couldn't possibly have committed the crime because he was somewhere else. That's never fun to have to fix something like that once it's already written."

"I bet it isn't."

"So Kate. What were your plans for the rest of the week? I don't want to be in the way."

"It's your house."

"That I told you to use. I just didn't know that you were still here. I'm surprised that Mother didn't say anything."

"I didn't talk to her, Dad did."

"So your dad called my mom? That sounds like too many chances for miscommunication. "

"I'm thinking there was something not mentioned between Martha and you," Kate said with a smile once she realized that they had been had.

"What do you mean?"

"I bet that Dad told Martha that I was staying and then she decided to send you down here too."

"Speaking of Mother, I need to call her to let her know I made it," he said with an evil little smile and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Mother," Rick said as he put the phone on speaker.

"Richard. Did you get there safely?"

"Yes, I made it with no problem. It's starting to ice up a bit so I'll be here until the weekend at least."

"Are you going to be okay if the power goes out?"

"I'll be fine, Mother. I stopped at the store and have lots of groceries. I have the generator and my laptop and I have plenty of writing to do," he said as he winked at Kate.

"Writing?" she asked sounding very surprised.

"Of course, Mother. What else would I do with a nice quiet house when I am snowed in and can't leave?"

"Quiet house?" Kate covered her mouth with her hands trying to hold back the laughter.

"Are you okay Mother? You seem to be repeating yourself."

"Repe- I'll talk to you later, Richard," she said exasperated as she hung up on him. They laughed finally.

"Give it about 3 minutes max and I bet my Dad will call. Want some help getting in the groceries?"

"Sure. Let me just pull the car into the garage first."

Kate reached for her jacket as he reached for the garage door opener that was in a kitchen drawer and they were soon finished bringing in the groceries. They were both surprised that her father hadn't called yet, but suspected that it would be soon. They laughed over his choices of necessities, ice cream and chocolate and they decided on fixing some soup for lunch.

After lunch they both decided to retire to the study. He plugged in his laptop and immediately started writing as she picked up a book and started to read. He saw her papers on the coffee table but he ignored them. She saw her papers untouched on the coffee table but didn't want to draw his attention to them. They sat there in silence for several hours and it was almost time to put dinner in the oven when her phone finally rang.

"Hi, Dad. Everything okay in the city?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Are you doing okay there?"

"Of course. It's icing up pretty bad out there, I'm glad we got all the essentials yesterday."

"Your coffee and chocolate," Jim asked causing Kate and Rick to both smile.

"So what have you been up to today, Dad?"

"Not much, visiting some friends. So Katie, are you doing any writing?"

"Yes," she broke eye contact with Rick and hoped that her father wouldn't say anything else.

"You have a good week, Katie. I need you to think about something this week."

"Mom's Law?" she asked knowing that Rick was going to insist on an explanation.

"No, Mom's four favorite words."

"I have, Dad. And you are right. Love you." She knew then that her dad knew about Rick being at the house also.

"I love you too, Katie," he said before he disconnected the call.

"Okay now, I'm curious. I need to know," he said with a smile.

"Mom's law or her favorite four words?"

"Both but later. You are doing some writing? It that was that stack of papers is?"

"Yes. You didn't read it did you?" she asked nervously.

"No, I saw them there, but I didn't touch them," he replied honestly. Realizing that she was nervous about her writing, he changed the subject. "So what is your mom's law?"

"Mom used to have a saying that she called the Immutable Law of the Universe. She would say 'Life never delivers anything we can't handle'."

"That's a good saying," he said. He knew that he would just ask her again later about the writing so he wasn't worried about her avoiding the question, for now.

"After she was killed we didn't think it was that true anymore because neither one of us could handle it. Dad became an alcoholic and I about lost myself in her case. I took a lot of stupid risks when I first became a cop. It was several years later, after Dad got sober that we thought about it again and remembered Mom's favorite four words. 'I told you so'."

"So your dad is saying 'I told you so' to you. Why?"

"It's about a conversation that we had earlier."

"About what?" he prodded.

"It's complicated," she tried to avoid the answer.

"I'll try to keep up," he smiled.

"Rick, I don't really want to talk about it right now."

"Okay. Now about the writing…" She rolled her eyes are his persistence but gave in and explained.

"I used to write some in high school but I was never any good."

"Did you enjoy writing?"

"Yes."

"Did it make you feel better to write?"

"Yes."

"Then that is all that matters."

"You aren't going to ask to read it?"

"Of course, I am," he said with his charming smile before turning serious again. "But if you don't want me to, I understand."

"Alexis said you have been writing a lot lately too."

"I have. I needed to sort out some things."

"Has it worked for you?"

"Yes," he paused. "Are you going to ask to read it?"

"She said that you haven't let her read it so I won't bother."

"This isn't for publication, but you can read it if you would like." Kate looked up at him a little surprised at his voice. He sounded almost unsure of himself.

"You'll let me read it?"

"Yes, if you want to."

"Okay," she said now a little unsure herself. He flipped to the beginning of the document on his laptop and said that he was going to go ahead and start making lasagna for dinner.

She read his story that he had titled 'Finding Katherine.' It was all about her and how he, or rather Alexander helped her through some tough times. She was fascinated to see the story from his point of view. The first thing that caught her attention was his lack of confidence that he was doing the right thing. She could tell that he had been a little nervous when they first started that part of their relationship but she didn't realize how uncertain he was. She was soon lost in the story and she only stopped reading when he brought in a tray with dinner for her.

Kate went back to Rick's story and she now realized how he disliked trying to control her but how he knew that she needed someone she trusted to do it. She also hadn't realized how difficult it was for him to touch her as much as she practically demanded. It wasn't that he didn't want to touch her; it was that he didn't want to stop. More importantly, Kate finally realized why he stopped that kiss the other day. He thought that she was still just grateful to him. His story pretty much ended there and she was curious about what might come next.

Kate's eyes fell on her story that she wrote and knew that she really should let him read it. She gathered up the pages and leaving them on his desk she softly padded out to the kitchen.

"Thank you," she said. She noticed a flicker of something in his eyes that she couldn't quite place. "Dinner was delicious. Sorry I didn't help out."

"That's okay, Kate."

"I'll clean up."

"You don't have to."

"I was reading while you cooked, so I'll clean up while you read my story."

"Are you sure?" he asked in his serious voice. She bit her lip then nodded. He looked at her closely then walked into the study.

He read her story, which meshed nearly perfectly with his. He was intrigued at seeing the thoughts that she still had kept hidden from him even though he demanded that she tell him everything. He also understood how much he hurt her when he pushed her away that time after he offered to pay for her father's bills. He hoped that she realized that was why he called out his safe word the other night. Rick wanted to be absolutely sure that she wanted a kiss, and for all the proper reasons. Not because it was an undercover thing, not because of gratitude, but because of love. Reading what she had written, he had to wonder if she realized how much it seemed to him at least that she cared and maybe even loved him. He got to the last page and smiled. She was sure. He took a deep breath and tried to restrain himself from just sweeping her into his arms.

"I wasn't completely honest with you, Kate," he said as he walked up behind her as she stood at the sink.

"You- you weren't," she stuttered as she felt him stop just inches away from her.

"I told you I came here to check on the house but to tell you the truth, I came here to hide."

"I thought that you had the first draft of the book finished already."

"I wasn't hiding from Gina," he said as he placed his hands on the counter on either side of her, trapping her in place. "Alexis told me she called you."

"Yes. She called to let us know about the weather," Kate said not sure how much she wanted to admit right now.

"She told me that she gave you an ultimatum," he said softly. She nodded. "Mother told us last night that your dad was coming back yesterday, obviously she didn't see the need to mention that you were actually staying. Alexis then told me this morning that she had given you an ultimatum. So I packed a few things and came here before you could come to the loft."

"Why?"

"Because I was afraid of what you might say."

"Why were you afraid?" she asked as she finally turned around, his arms still trapping her against the counter.

"Because I can't bear to lose you, Kate."

"You won't," she said as she stepped closer and gently laid one hand against his cheek. He closed his eyes, reveling in her touch, one hand covering hers and the other lightly resting on her waist.

"Rick, I will always be grateful for what you have done for my dad and for me but what I feel is so much more than just gratitude." He finally opened his eyes and looked into hers. "I finally realize that now. I love you, Rick Castle."

"I love you, Kate Beckett," he finally admitted aloud for the first time. She slipped her hand behind his head and leaned into him and kissed him. He let her control the kiss but he wrapped his arms around her pulling her a bit closer. When they finally broke the kiss, they were both shaken a bit at the passion. His lips kept trailing down her neck, nibbling and kissing as he went.

"I don't know how you know me better than I do but you do, Rick. You seem to know just what I need and when I need it. When I need to have control and when I need to give it up."

"Would you like to give it up now?" he asked as he pulled away from her neck to look into her eyes. "Because I would love to take over and carry you to my bed."

"I was hoping that you would say that," she didn't get to finish her statement when Rick swept her into his arms.

End of the T- rated part of the story.

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I have a question for you all. I am on the US West Coast and I know some of you are scattered all over the world (how cool that people from everywhere are reading my stories!) I was wondering when in the day might be the best time for me to post parts of my stories. Let me know what you think and I will try to see what I can do. I can probably get the computer at 8am (PST) but then not again until 3pm (PST). I am a night owl so I am usually up until at least 1am so I could post as late as that. Let me know if you all get the chance. Thanks again.


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